Upland grassy opening. Camp Grant Walker
Scattered but few throughout only specimen with pods(mature in picture)
was observed feeding on the flowers of the lantana
This single, 42-inch tall plant was odd. It was the only Bidens flowering in the area. Leaves very small, leaflets 3-5 lobed with crenate margins; flowers with 8 ligules avg. 2 cm long; calyculi of 18 bractlets avg. 6.5 mm long; inner cypselae flattened, 2.0-2.2 mm long x 1 mm wide, margins ciliolate but not barbed or winged.
Cypselae were the right size for Bidens mitis, but they aren’t supposed to have ciliolate margins and there were too many calyculi bractlets. It isn’t Bidens aristosa because that would have much larger cypselae, fewer calyculi bractlets, and larger leaves with more lobes. This may be a Bidens hybrid or a genetically damaged plant.