Wildflower (forb) · Asteraceae
Small beggarticks
Bidens discoidea
Small beggarticks is recorded as native to 31 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 349 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
Small beggarticks at a glance
- Native in
- 349 counties, across 31 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 12b PLANTS minimum temperature 52°F
- Mature height
- 5.2 ft PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Sun to part shade High water use
Estimated cold hardiness: zone 12b. PLANTS gives a minimum temperature of 52°F; zone 12b winters bottom out at 55°F, the coldest half-zone that stays within that limit.
Small beggarticks is recorded as native to 31 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 349 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 349 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Alabama 4 counties
- Arkansas 19 counties
- Connecticut statewide record
- Delaware 1 county
- District of Columbia 1 county
- Florida 6 counties
- Georgia 8 counties
- Illinois 24 counties
- Indiana 22 counties
- Kentucky 13 counties
- Louisiana 36 counties
- Maine 1 county
- Massachusetts 11 counties
- Michigan 14 counties
- Minnesota 2 counties
- Mississippi 3 counties
- Missouri 17 counties
- New Hampshire 2 counties
- New Jersey 12 counties
- New York 21 counties
- North Carolina 23 counties
- Ohio 13 counties
- Pennsylvania 11 counties
- Rhode Island 5 counties
- South Carolina 12 counties
- Tennessee 13 counties
- Texas 5 counties
- Vermont 2 counties
- Virginia 25 counties
- West Virginia 1 county
- Wisconsin 22 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
- 5.2 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 7.1
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- Medium
- Salinity tolerance
- None
- Fertility requirement
- Medium
- Minimum root depth
- 8 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- 52°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 12b and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 130
- 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
- Brown
Other
- Toxicity
- None
- Nitrogen fixation
- None
- Nursery availability
- No Known Source
- Family
- Asteraceae
- PLANTS symbol
- BIDI
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 discoidea (PLANTS symbol BIDI).
- 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