| Author | (L.) de Candolle | |
| Distribution | Collected from 3 counties: New Hanover in 1935, Brunswick in 1964, and Polk in 2017. Photographed from Nags Head in Dare in 2022 (on iNaturalist). Could turn up anywhere, though most likely in the southeastern counties, as it is rather widespread in the SC Coastal Plain.
Native of the Neotropics; in N.A. Que. to Ont. south to FL and LA; also TX to CA. However, the main range of escapes/adventives is north only to southeastern NC. | |
| Abundance | Very rare. | |
| Habitat | Sandy roadside, trashy roadside, roadside post-roadwork. | |
| Phenology | Flowering and fruiting September-October, perhaps earlier. | |
| Identification | This is our only Bidens with white ray florets; the disk florets are deep yellow. The seeds have 2 awns as in our other species. The leaves are usually divided into 3 leaflets (sometimes 5 or sometimes none at all). This is one of the best nectar plants for butterflies in the Southeastern states. | |
| Taxonomic Comments | Weakley (2020) lists var. radiata as the taxon present in NC. A number of references name this species as B. pilosa. Technically, the name pilosa has priority, but we prefer to use alba as it recalls the main feature of the plant and is the one used by Weakley as occurring in NC.
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| Other Common Name(s) | Shepherd's-needles, White Beggarticks | |
| State Rank | SE | |
| Global Rank | G5 | |
| State Status | | |
| US Status | | |
| USACE-agcp | | |
| USACE-emp | | |
