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Hairy Beggarticks

Bidens pilosa

Found in disturbed areas, ballast, waste areas near wool-combing mill. FloraQuest, phone app (app page) What its natural habitat tells you

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Not native

Not native to Virginia. How scores work Is it native here?

Profile 65%

Height
Up to about 8 feet
Light
Partial shade, Full sun
Soil moisture
Dry to wet

At a glance

Life cycle
Annual

Not yet recorded · Spread · Leaves · Bloom

This plant is missing most of its facts, so Quercus is looking them up in old botany books.

Recorded in 6 Virginia counties.

Natural habitats

Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.

Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground

Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.

All habitats

Ecological relationships

Who uses this plant?

What these records mean

21CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including VA

Genus host records with ranges including VA · Bidens

  • Cecropterus lyciadesHoary Edge
  • Cecropterus pyladesNorthern Cloudywing
  • Cirrhophanus trianguliferGoldenrod Stowaway, Beggarticks Seedcropper
  • Condica confederataThe Confederate
  • Condica mobilisMobile Groundling
  • Dichomeris juncidellaOrange-Dotted Dichomeris
  • Epiblema abruptanaAbrupt Epiblema
  • Epiblema otiosanaBidens Borer Moth
  • Eupithecia miserulataCommon Eupithacia, Common Pug
  • Homoeosoma electellaSunflower Moth
Show all 21
  • Palthis asopialisFaint-Spotted Palthis
  • Papaipema nebrisStalk Borer
  • Platynota stultanaOmnivorous Leafroller
  • Pyrausta tyralisCoffee-Loving Pyrausta
  • Pyrrhia exprimensPurple-Lined Sallow, Purple-Lined Sun Moth
  • Spilosoma virginicaVirginian Tiger Moth, Yellow Woolybear Moth, Yellow Bear
  • Spodoptera eridaniaSouthern Armyworm Moth
  • Spodoptera frugiperdaFall Armyworm Moth
  • Synchlora frondariaSouthern Emerald
  • Urbanus proteusLong-Tailed Skipper, Bean Leaf Roller
  • Agonopterix atrodorsella
Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
—BeesSoutheastern regional records
8Specialist beesPollen specialists

Pollen specialists · Bidens

  • Andrena aliciae
  • Andrena chromotricha
  • Dianthidium curvatum
  • Dieunomia heteropoda
  • Megachile inimica
  • Megachile parallela
  • Megachile xylocopoides
  • Melissodes denticulatus
Smith, Bachelder, Russell, Morales, Mosher & Seltmann 2024, Bee-Specialization-Modeling v0.6.1 (specialist host table compiled from J. Fowler's pollen specialist bee lists), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
10BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim

Recorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim · Bidens

  • Acanthis flammeaCommon Redpoll
  • Aix sponsaWood Duck
  • Anas platyrhynchosMallard
  • Callipepla californicaCalifornia Quail
  • Colinus virginianusNorthern Bobwhite
  • Dendrocygna bicolorFulvous Whistling-Duck
  • Fulica americanaAmerican Coot
  • Plectrophenax nivalisSnow Bunting
  • Porzana carolinaSora
  • Rallus limicolaVirginia Rail
Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)

Direct food only: birds recorded eating this genus across North America. Caterpillars on host plants also feed nesting birds. NC Native Plant Society: butterfly gardening

Growing and identification

Plant details

Family
Asteraceae
Flower color
White or yellow

Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.

Growing sources and scope
Also known as

Bidens pilosa

Conservation status

Virginia rankNot available
Global rankG5
VA statusNot verified
Federal statusNot verified

Conservation source Global and federal source

Native alternatives

Find natives for your garden

Sources