Devil's Beggarticks is a native found in nearly every US state, best known for its flat seeds tipped with two barbed prongs that hitch rides on socks, pant legs, and dog fur. Its yellow-orange, mostly petal-less flower heads bloom from midsummer into fall (July to October in Minnesota) along muddy shores and wet ditches. It's also called sticktights or devil's pitchfork.
Appearance
- Appearance
- Stems are upright, branched, mostly smooth, and often purplish, with a squarish cross-section.
- Growth form
- An annual herb, usually 1–3 ft (30–90 cm) tall, occasionally up to 6 ft (1.8 m).
- Leaves
- Leaves are opposite and divided into 3 or 5 lance-shaped leaflets, each 2–4 in (5–10 cm) long, with a long pointed tip and sharp teeth. The end leaflet is the largest.
- Flowers
- Each head has a yellow-orange center disk about 1/2–3/4 in (1.3–2 cm) across, with no petals or just a few tiny yellow ones. Five to 12 long, narrow, leafy green with hairy edges stick out around the head.
- Flowering time
- July to October (Minnesota).
- Fruit
- Seeds are flat, dark brown to black, about 1/4–1/3 in (6–8 mm) long, with 2 barbed at the top. The round seed head is wider than the flower disk.
Look-alikes
Where it lives
- Typical habitats
- shores
- wet ditches
- wet fields
- disturbed ground
- Range
- Native across most of North America: throughout the lower 48 states and Alaska except Montana, and most of Canada.
- Preferred conditions
- Grows best in moist soil in sun to part shade, especially on bare, disturbed ground. It tolerates waterlogged soil at water's edges and on floodplains, and also shows up as a weed in pastures, fields, and roadsides.
- Flowering
Flowers Jul–Oct
Flowers Jul–Oct
Life cycle
- Seed dispersal
- The barbed awns snag fur and clothing, carrying the seeds to new spots.
Conservation
- IUCN Red List
- LCLeast ConcernLow risk of extinction
- Status
- Native in the US, but invasive in parts of Europe, Asia, and New Zealand. In Eurasia it competes and hybridizes with native beggarticks, which have declined where it spreads.
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