Wildflower (forb) · Asteraceae
Nodding beggartick
Bidens cernua
Nodding beggartick is recorded as native to 43 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 1,209 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
Nodding beggartick at a glance
- Native in
- 1,209 counties, across 43 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 12a PLANTS minimum temperature 47°F
- Mature height
- 3.2 ft PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Sun to part shade High water use
Estimated cold hardiness: zone 12a. PLANTS gives a minimum temperature of 47°F; zone 12a winters bottom out at 50°F, the coldest half-zone that stays within that limit.
Nodding beggartick is recorded as native to 43 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 1,209 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 1,209 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Arizona 1 county
- Arkansas 12 counties
- California 14 counties
- Colorado 21 counties
- Connecticut statewide record
- Delaware 1 county
- District of Columbia 1 county
- Georgia 2 counties
- Idaho 21 counties
- Illinois 82 counties
- Indiana 53 counties
- Iowa 58 counties
- Kansas 51 counties
- Kentucky 29 counties
- Louisiana 10 counties
- Maine 16 counties
- Massachusetts 13 counties
- Michigan 67 counties
- Minnesota 59 counties
- Missouri 57 counties
- Montana 17 counties
- Nebraska 84 counties
- Nevada 10 counties
- New Hampshire 10 counties
- New Jersey 16 counties
- New Mexico 13 counties
- New York 46 counties
- North Carolina 9 counties
- Ohio 65 counties
- Oklahoma 10 counties
- Oregon 27 counties
- Pennsylvania 62 counties
- Rhode Island 2 counties
- South Dakota 44 counties
- Tennessee 24 counties
- Texas 1 county
- Utah 18 counties
- Vermont 13 counties
- Virginia 47 counties
- Washington 20 counties
- West Virginia 23 counties
- Wisconsin 66 counties
- Wyoming 14 counties
Growing traits
Values from the PLANTS characteristics record. “Not recorded” means PLANTS has no value; nothing here is estimated except the zone.
Growth
- Growth habit
- Forb/herb
- Duration
- Annual
- Mature height
- 3.2 ft
- Growth rate
- Rapid
- Growth form
- Single Crown
- Shape
- Erect
- Lifespan
- Not recorded
- Active growth period
- Spring, Summer, Fall
Light and water
- Shade tolerance
- Intermediate (sun to part shade)
- Moisture use
- High water use
- Drought tolerance
- Low
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- Medium
- Precipitation range
- 32 to 55 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Coarse, medium and fine
- pH range
- 5.1 to 7
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- Medium
- Salinity tolerance
- Low
- Fertility requirement
- Medium
- Minimum root depth
- 8 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- 47°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 12a and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 85
- Fire tolerance
- Low
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- Yellow
- Showy flowers
- Yes
- Bloom period
- Late Summer
- Foliage color
- Green
- Showy in fall
- Yes
- Keeps leaves
- No
- Fruit color
- Purple
Other
- Toxicity
- None
- Nitrogen fixation
- None
- Nursery availability
- Routinely Available
- Family
- Asteraceae
- PLANTS symbol
- BICE
Source & data date
- Source
- USDA NRCS PLANTS Database: county distribution records, native status and plant characteristics. CC0 (public domain dedication, per the data.gov catalog record).
- Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP): native or introduced status by state. CC BY 3.0.
- USGS US-RIIS (ver. 2.0): species listed as introduced are excluded. CC0.
- Citation
- USDA, NRCS. 2026. The PLANTS Database (https://plants.usda.gov, 11/04/2026). National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC USA.
- Govaerts R. (ed.) (2026). WCVP: World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Data file dated 2026-06-04, http://sftp.kew.org/pub/data-repositories/WCVP/ (retrieved 2026-11-04). Paper: Govaerts R. et al. (2021) The World Checklist of Vascular Plants, a continuously updated resource for exploring global plant diversity. Scientific Data 8, 215.
- Data date
- Retrieved from PLANTS on November 4, 2026; WCVP data file dated June 4, 2026.
- Scope
- Bidens cernua (PLANTS symbol BICE).
- Method
- A species is listed when it is recorded as native to the state in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in the county by USDA PLANTS. Species PLANTS labels both native and introduced are listed separately. Full method · All sources