Common Beggarticks (Hairy Beggarsticks)

Scientific Name - Bidens alba L. DC.
[Bidens pilosa L.]
Family - Compositae

Annual with smooth, erect to spreading stems often rooting at lower nodes. First true leaves on seedlings simple and long-stalked. Other leaves opposite, stalked, with three to nine leaflets. Leaflets with teeth on margins. Flowers with white rays, and yellow centers, in stalked heads. Fruit 0.4 inch (1 cm) long with two or three barbed awns at the top. Reproduces by seed. Found in virtually all disturbed areas. Occurs from North Carolina to south Florida and west to California. Also found in the West Indies, Mexico, Central and South America, Asia, Africa, and Europe.