Trees & Plants

Hairy beggarticks

Enbureymaa, Hirikulha

Bidens pilosa L.

Very common in most of the islands, especially in open areas. The plant is antidysenteric and antimicrobial. Leaf paste is applied on cuts and wounds. Warmed juice of fresh plant is used to treat earache and conjunctivitis, and as a styptic on wounds. Tender leaves are used as ve

Details

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uses: The plant is antidysenteric and antimicrobial. Leaf paste is applied on cuts and wounds. Warmed juice of fresh plant is used to treat earache and conjunctivitis, and as a styptic on wounds. Tender leaves are used as vegetable after processing. Th reat & damage: Bidens, an invasive species, form dense stands that compete, outgrow and eliminate crops and native vegetation. The leaf and root extracts suppress germination and seedling growth of native plants. The thickets affect recreation areas. The burr of seeds irritate people, sheep and other livestock and can also be a seed contaminant. The plant also acts as host and vector to harmful parasites × 1 such as root knot nematode and tomato spotted wilt virus. Mangement: Hand pulling, knife weeding and treatment with herbicides are effective. in LAPANAJUS is
family: Asteraceae
synonym: Bidens leucantha (L.) Willd., as Bidens hirta Jord.
description: Erect herbs, stem quadrangular. of Leaves opposite, 12-18 cm, pinnate; lobes × to 6 3 cm, ovate-lanceolate, apex acute, base truncate, serrate, hairy. Heads to 1 cm across; peduncles to 8 cm, flexuous, × involucral bracts biseriate, outer ca. 3 1 × mm, linear, spathulate, inner to 5 2 mm, ovate, obtuse. Rays florets 2-5. Corolla bilobed, yellow; disc florets many. Achenes many ca. 2.5 mm; setae 2-4, ca. 3 mm long.
native range: Temperate and tropical America
distribution: Pantropical
english names: Hairy beggarticks
flowering fruiting: March–October
occurrence maldives: Very common in most of the islands, especially in open areas.