Edible Parts: Leaves.
Edible Uses: Condiment; Tea.
Leaves and young shoots - cooked or used as a flavouring. Used as a vegetable. A tea is made from the flowering tops.
Lucas Land
Spanish Needles
Bidens bipinnata
From Missouri Plants
Flowering - August - October.
Habitat - Open woods, glades, pastures, open rocky ground, thickets, waste ground, roadsides, railroads.
Origin - Native to U.S., and tropical regions around the globe.
Other info. - The genus name Bidens means "two teeth", referring to the awns of the pappus and fruit, (other species only have two awns). Because of the awns, the fruits will cling to most anything, thus distributing the plant quickly to new locations. The plant is not stout and wilts when hit with direct hot sun. Ray ligules are not always present in the flower heads.