Common Beggarticks

About Common Beggarticks

While often known for its hitchhiking seeds, Common Beggarticks is a resilient and ecologically important native annual that thrives in tough wet conditions. This plant grows 1 to 3 feet tall and has compound leaves with three to five leaflets. Its flowers are more subtle than other Bidens, often lacking large yellow petals and appearing as golden-brown disks surrounded by leafy green bracts from August to October. Native across nearly all of North America, it is found in a wide variety of wet habitats, including disturbed sites and woodland edges. It is a larval host for several moth species and provides late-season nectar for bees and wasps. The seeds are a significant food source for ducks and other birds. Extremely adaptable, it grows in full sun to deep shade and wet to medium-wet soils. While it can be aggressive in small gardens, it is excellent for stabilizing soil and providing habitat in wilder wetland restoration areas.