Weeds of Australia - Fact Sheet

Top Scientific Name Synonyms Family Common Names Origin Naturalised Distribution Notes

Scientific Name

Bidens pilosa L.

Synonyms

Bidens chinensis Willd.
Bidens leucantha Willd.
Bidens pilosa L. var. minor  (Blume) Sherff

Family

Asteraceae (Queensland, New South Wales, the ACT, Victoria, Tasmania, Western Australia and the Northern Territory)
Compositae (South Australia)

Common Names

beggar's tick, beggar's ticks, black jack, bur, bur marigold, butterfly needles, cobbler's peg, cobbler's pegs, cobbler's-pegs, common beggar-ticks, common blackjack, farmer's friend, hairy beggarticks, hairy beggar-ticks, needleandthread, pitch forks, pitchforks, shepherd's needles, Spanish needle, Spanish needles, stick tights, stickybeak, white beggarticks

Origin

This species is now very widespread throughout the warmer regions of the world, but is thought to have originated in tropical America (i.e. in Mexico, Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, the Caribbean, French Guiana, Guyana, Surinam, Venezuela, Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Argentina, Chile and Uruguay).

Naturalised Distribution

A widely naturalised species that is particularly common in the eastern and northern parts of Australia. It is widely naturalised throughout Queensland, eastern New South Wales, the Northern Territory and the northern parts of Western Australia. Less common in the ACT, in some parts of Victoria and South Australia, and in south-western Australia. Also naturalised on Lord Howe Island, Norfolk Island and Christmas Island, and in many other parts of the world.

Notes

This common weed grows in a wide variety of habitats. Cobbler's pegs (Bidens pilosa) is well known as a weed of gardens, parks, crops, pastures, roadsides, disturbed sites and waste areas, but it also invades waterways, rainforest margins, open woodlands and coastal sites (particularly in warmer regions). For this reason it is also regarded as an environmental weed in New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia and the ACT.

Cobbler's pegs (Bidens pilosa) was recently listed as a priority environmental weed in two Natural Resource Management regions and in south-eastern Queensland it is considered to be among the top 200 most invasive plant species. This species is readily dispersed by man's activities and dense populations can out-compete native species on the exposed margins of bushland and in revegetation sites.