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Other Names: beggarticksScientific Name: Bidens spp.
Plant Family: Compositae
Botanical Description: Several species of sticktights are common herbaceous cranberry weeds. Stems and leaves may help distinguish between sticktight species. The stems of devil's beggartick (Bidens frondosa L.) and swamp beggartick (Bidens connata Muhl.) are often uniquely purplish. Both devil's beggartick and rayless beggartick (Bidens discoides Britt.) have gently toothed leaves with 3 - 5 distinct leaflets; crowned beggarticks (Bidens coronata L. Britt.) and marigold sticktight (Bidens cernua L.) have long, narrow leaves sometimes divided into 3 leaflets; swamp beggartick has simple, sharply toothed leaves.Flowers also distinguish between sticktight species. Devil's beggartick, rayless beggartick, and swamp beggartick have flowers with leaflike bracts and small or colorless outer petals (ray flowers), although inner disk flowers may be yellow or orange. Marigold sticktight and crowned beggartick have showy yellow composite flowers like marigold or small sunflowers.
Stems: smooth, erect, branching, 1 - 5 feet tall; has a characteristic odor when crushed.
Leaves: are generally in pairs on opposite sides of stem, covered with minute hairs, pinnate with 3 to 5 leaflets
Roots: shallow, highly branched taproot
Flowers: about 1 inch diameter, surrounded by leafy bracts, occur July - September
Seeds: flat, brown or black, with 2 - 4 barbed spines protruding from upper end (like cattle skull)
Seedling: Seed leaves are smooth-edged, hairless and oblong. Leaves are opposite. First pair of true leaves have toothed edges, minute hairs along petioles, edges and principle veins, and are lance-shaped or pinnate with three leaflets. Second pair of leaves are pinnate (devil's beggartick) or palmate (swamp beggartick) with three leaflets and have the same hair pattern as first leaves. Veins are often quite apparent. Stem very sturdy and has dull red or purple striped grooves running from node to node; may be covered with transparent hairs.
Reproduction: annualPropagation: seed
Dispersal: Seed frequently introduced into cranberry beds by contaminated flood waters during harvest.
State: Common throughout all of Wisconsin.National: Species of sticktight are found throughout most of the continental United States.
Origin: native of North America
Sticktights are commonly found in fresh meadows, shallow marshes, and disturbed soils. It is a common invader of cranberry beds, establishing itself in poorly drained or bare ground.
While scouting a cranberry bed for disease and insect pests, identify weed populations as they arise. Note the specie(s) of weed present as well as the population level relative to field area. Example: 10% sticktight, 20% boneset and joe-pye weed mix.
Kummer, A. P. 1951. Weed Seedlings. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, U.S.A. pp. 352-64.Kummer, L. D., T. G. Dittl, and T. D. Planer. 1993. Wisconsin Cranberry Weeds. Wisconsin Cranberry Board, Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin. p. 3.
Lorenzi, H. J. and L. S. Jeffery. 1987. Weeds of the United States and Their Control. Van Nostrand Reinhold Company, New York, New York. p. 299.
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. 1981. Weeds of the North Central States: North Central Regional Research Publication No. 281. College of Agriculture, Agricultural Experiment Station. Bulletin 772. p. 193.
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