Connecticut Beggarticks

Bidens heterodoxa may be better treated as part of B. tripartita.

Annuals, (5–)25–35(–55+) cm. Leaves: petioles (narrowly, if at all, winged) 5–20(–35+) mm; blades lanceolate to lance-linear, (20–)30–50(–80+) × (3–)6–20(–30+) mm, sometimes laciniately 1-pinnatisect with 2–4+ lobes near bases, bases cuneate, margins incised to serrate, seldom ciliate, apices acute to attenuate, faces glabrous. Heads borne singly or in 2s or 3s. Peduncles 10–35(–55) mm. Calyculi of (2–)3–5(–7) ± erect, oblanceolate or spatulate to linear, ± foliaceous bractlets or bracts (6–)10–25(–40+) mm, margins rarely ciliate, abaxial faces usually glabrous, sometimes sparsely hispidulous. Involucres usually obconic to broadly campanulate, rarely hemispheric, (4–)6–7 × (4–)5–7 mm. Phyllaries (4–)5–8, oblong to lance-ovate, (4–)5–8+ mm. Ray florets usually 0, sometimes 1–3+; laminae orange yellowish, 2–5(–10) mm. Disc florets (7–)20–70+; corollas yellowish, 2.5–3.5 mm. Cypselae: outer red-brown, ± flattened, sometimes 3–4-angled, broadly cuneate, 4–5(–6) mm, inner blackish, narrowly cuneate, (5–)6–7(–8+) mm, margins glabrous or sparsely antrorsely strigillose, apices ± truncate to convex, faces ± 1-nerved, glabrous or sparsely setulose, usually smooth, sometimes ± tuberculate; pappi 0, or of 2(–4) spreading to divergent, antrorsely or retrorsely barbed awns (0.1–)1–3.5+ mm. 2n = 48.

Bidens tripartita Linnaeus var. heterodoxa Fernald, Rhodora 15: 76. 1913; B. heterodoxa var. agnostica Fernald; B. heterodoxa var. monardifolia Fernald; B. heterodoxa var. orthodoxa Fernald & H. St. John; B. infirma Fernald

Bidens heterodoxa, the Connecticut beggarticks, is a North American species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. It is native to eastern Canada (Québec, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island) and the northeastern United States (Connecticut).

Bidens heterodoxa is an annual herb up to 50 cm (20 inches) tall. It produces as many as 3 flower heads containing yellow disc florets but usually no ray florets (occasionally 1, 2, or 3). The species grows mostly along the banks of estuaries and coastal salt marshes.