Three-lobe beggartick
Scientific Name: Bidens tripartita L.
Family: Asteraceae
MORPHOLOGY
Growth habit and size: Annual plant, reaching one meter in height.
Stems: Ascending, glabrous, often reddish at the end.
Leaves: Opposite lanceolate leaves, the larger ones divided into three lanceolate segments with converging teeth and a long acuminate apex. The central segment has a very short petiole, at most 6 mm, rarely with nearly 5-pinnatipartite leaves or with a pinnatifid central segment.
Flowers: Terminal or lateral flower heads, solitary or in groups of 2-3, inclined, generally discoidal, with a diameter of about 2 cm. Leafy, radiating outer bracts. Both tubular and ligulate yellow flowers. Blooms between July and October.
Fruits and seeds: Achenes provided with hooks or spines at the end, which facilitate adherence to the fur of animals or human clothing for seed dispersal.
DISTRIBUTION AND HABITAT
It grows throughout Italy except in Puglia, from 0 to 800 m along the edges of watercourses, in marshes, ditches, and other humid environments.
Photo: Used under a free license by Saxifraga, Ed Stikvoort, Rutger Barendse, Piet Zomerdijk.
