Common Names: Beggarticks, Spanish needles and romerillo.

Latin Name: Bidens alba

Family:  Asteraceae

Habit:  A short lived perennial wildflower that grows to about 4 feet in height.

Leaves:  Opposite, lanceolate to ovate in shape with toothed margins.   Leaves may be single or pinnately divided into threes.

Flowers: The white blooms appear all year and are a favorite of butterflies and bees.

Habitat:  Disturbed sites.

Landscape:  It grows in full sun to part shade with average moisture.

Range: It is native to AL, CT, FL, GA, HI, LA, MA, MO, NC, NM, PA, and SC.

It grows in zones 7 – 10.

Wildlife use:  Bees and butterflies use the flowers as a nectar source.   Small mammals, and birds, eat new growth and unopened flower buds.

Spanish needle (Bidens alba) is a larval food for the dainty sulfur butterfly (Nathalis iole).

Buy Spanish needles seeds here at my Ebay store.