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• Bidens laevis

Bidens laevis — smooth beggar-ticks

Facts

Smooth beggar-ticks is native to North, Central and South America. It inhabits the edges of lakes, marshes and rivers. The young leaves are edible as a potherb.

Habitat

Fresh tidal marshes or flats, marshes, shores of rivers or lakes, wetland margins (edges of wetlands)

Characteristics

• Flowers

  Bases of bract appendages

  NA

  Bract color

  the bracts are colored, or at least tinged with, pink, red or purple

  Bract cycle number

  there are two main cycles of bracts

  Bract margins

  there are fine hairs along the bract margins

  Bract shape

  • the main bracts are lanceolate (widest above the base, then taper narrowly towards the tip)
  • the main bracts are oblong (roughly rectangular but rounded at the ends)
  • the main bracts are obovate (roughly egg-shaped, but widest near the tip)
  • the main bracts are ovate (egg-shaped)

  Bracts

  there are at least two distinct forms of bracts in different cycles

  Disk flower color

  • orange
  • yellow

  Disk flower lobe number

  5

  Disk flower number

  • 21-50
  • more than 50

  Disk flower reproductive parts

  the disk flower has both pollen- and seed-producing parts

  Disk flower shape

  the disk flower is abruptly widened at some point below the lobes

  Flower head outer flowers

  at the outer edge of the flower head, each flower has a single enlarged lobe or strap

  Flower head platform

  the base has papery scales on it

  Flower head shape

  • the flower head is hemispherical (like the bottom half of a sphere)
  • the flower head is shaped like a cone with the point up

  Flower type in flower heads

  • the flower head has disk flowers only, and lacks the strap-shaped flowers
  • the flower head has tubular disk flowers in the center and ray flowers, these often strap-shaped, around the periphery

  Height of flower head base

  4–10 mm

  Inflorescence branching (Solidago)

  NA

  Inflorescence shape

  the inflorescence is flat-topped in profile

  Number of bracts at flower head base

  8–12

  Ovary cross-section

  • the ovary is compressed (flattened)
  • the ovary is roughly square or with four corners

  Ovary hair type

  the ovary has no hairs on it

  Ovary hairs

  the ovary has no hairs on it

  Ovary profile

  in profile, the ovary is lanceolate (widest below the middle, tapering to both ends)

  Peduncle length

  10–60 mm

  Peduncle orientation

  the flower heads are held upright, or slightly angled outwards

  Ray flower color

  • NA
  • orange
  • yellow

  Ray flower reproductive parts

  the ray flowers have carpels or stamens, but not both

  Ray flowers

  • 0
  • 6-10

  Ray length

  15–30 mm

  Smaller bracts at base of bracts

  there is a cycle of much smaller bracts outside the cycle of larger and longer bracts

  Width of flower head base

  8–12 mm

• Fruits or seeds

  Number of pappus parts

  • 2
  • 3
  • 4

  Ovary length in developed fruit

  6–10 mm

  Ovary width in developed fruit

  2–2.5 mm

  Seed hair tuft bases

  NA

  Seed hair tuft color

  NA

  Seed hair tuft details

  NA

  Seed hair tuft length

  3–5 mm

  Seed hair tuft tips

  NA

  Seed hairs uniform

  NA

  Seed tuft scale number

  0

  Seed tuft type

  the pappus is made of stiff, tapering bristles

  Top of disk flower ovary

  the top of the ovary in fruit is flattened

  Tuft or plume on fruit

  there is no plume, or the plume is made up of scales, awns, a crown, or a rim

• Glands or sap

  Leaf blade glands

  the leaf blades have no glandular (translucent) dots or scales

  Sap

  the sap is clear and watery

• Growth form

  Growth form

  the plant has one or more free-standing stems

  Plant lifespan

  • the plant is annual, it lacks evidence of previous years' growth
  • the plant is perennial, it shows evidence of previous year's leaves, stems or stem bases

  Spines on plant

  the plant has no spines

  Underground organs

  • the plant has a rhizome (a horizontal underground stem with roots growing from it)
  • there are only slender roots on the plant

• Leaves

  Final leaf segment length (compound lvs only)

  0 mm

  Final leaf segment width (compound lvs only)

  0 mm

  Hairs on underside of leaf blade

  the underside of the leaf is not hairy, or has very few hairs

  Hairs on upper side of leaf blade

  the upper side of the leaf is not hairy, or has very few hairs

  Leaf arrangement

  opposite: there are two leaves per node along the stem

  Leaf blade base

  the leaf has no petiole

  Leaf blade base shape

  • the base of the leaf blade is cuneate (wedge-shaped, tapers to the base with relatively straight, converging edges), or narrow
  • the base of the leaf blade is rounded

  Leaf blade bloom

  • the underside of the leaf has no noticeable bloom
  • there is a noticeable powdery or waxy bloom on the underside of the leaf

  Leaf blade edges

  the edge of the leaf blade has teeth

  Leaf blade hairs

  NA

  Leaf blade length

  20–160 mm

  Leaf blade shape

  • the leaf blade is elliptic (widest near the middle and tapering at both ends)
  • the leaf blade is lanceolate (lance-shaped; widest below the middle and tapering at both ends)
  • the leaf blade is linear (very narrow with more or less parallel sides)
  • the leaf blade is obovate (egg-shaped, but with the widest point above the middle of the leaf blade)

  Leaf blade surface colors

  there is no noticeable color variation on the upper surface of the leaf

  Leaf blade tip

  • the tip of the leaf blade is acuminate (tapers to a long, thin point)
  • the tip of the leaf blade is acute (sharply pointed)

  Leaf blade veins

  the leaf blade has one main vein running from the base towards the tip

  Leaf blade width

  5–40 mm

  Leaf disposition

  the leaves are nearly similar in size, prominence of teeth, and length of stalks throughout the stem

  Leaf spines

  there are no spines on the leaf edges

  Leaf stalk

  the leaves have no leaf stalks, but attach directly to the stem

  Leaf stalk length

  0 mm

  Leaf tip extension

  NA

  Leaf type

  leaves are simple (i.e., lobed or unlobed but not separated into leaflets)

  Leaflet number

  0

  Specific leaf type

  the leaves are simple (i.e., lobed or unlobed but not separated into leaflets

• Place

  Habitat

  • aquatic
  • wetlands

  New England state

  • Connecticut
  • Massachusetts
  • New Hampshire
  • Rhode Island

  Specific habitat

  • edges of wetlands
  • fresh tidal marshes or flats
  • marshes
  • shores of rivers or lakes

• Scent

  Plant odor

  the plant does not have much of an odor

• Stem, shoot, branch

  Flowering stem cross-section

  the flowering stem is circular, or with lots of small angles

  Leaves on stem

  there is at least one full leaf above the base of the flowering stem

  Stem bloom

  • the stem has a powdery or waxy film on it that can be rubbed away
  • there is no powdery or waxy film on the stem

  Stem internode hair direction

  NA

  Stem internode hair length

  0 mm

  Stem internode hair type

  the stem has no hairs between the nodes

  Stem internode hairs

  the stem has no hairs between the nodes

  Stem wings

  the stem does not have wings on it

Wetland status

Occurs only in wetlands. (Wetland indicator code: OBL)

New England distribution and conservation status

From the dichotomous key of Flora Novae Angliae