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Bidens reptans

Bidens reptans is a species of scrambling perennial plant of the Neotropical realm belonging to the family Asteraceae[1]

Bidens reptans
Bidens reptans flowering heads and leaves
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Embryophytes
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Spermatophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Asterales
Family: Asteraceae
Genus: Bidens
Species:
B. reptans
Binomial name
Bidens reptans
(L.) G.Don

Description

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Bidens reptans displays these main features:[2]

  • It can be a herbaceous, perennial that creeps along the ground, lies atop other vegetation, and it can climb into trees as a woody liana developing branches which dangle.
  • Leaves arise opposite one another on stems and may be simple with no subdivisions, or have up to 7 leaflets, which are up to 14 cm (5.5 in) long and 12 cm (4.7 in) wide.
  • Flowering heads are all yellow, with each head producing up to 8 petal-like ray florets along the margins, and with an "eye" of up to 30 disk florets with cylindrical corollas.
  • The involucre from which the florets emerge consists of two dissimilar series of bracts; there are 5–8, somewhat fleshy, green, external ones and 8-10 interior ones which are thinner in texture and yellowish green.
  • The one-seeded, cypsela-type fruits are up to 12 mm (0.5 in) long and 1.4 mm (0.06 in) wide, topped with 2 sharp awns, with each awn bearing backward-pointing barbs.

Distribution

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Bidens reptans is native to the Americas from Mexico and the Caribbean south through Central America into South America as far south as Argentina and Bolivia.[3]

Habitat

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Bidens reptans occurs in a wide variety of environments, from tropical deciduous forest, oak and pine-oak forest, mangroves, forests beside water bodies, secondary forests and pastures.[2]

Human interactions

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Traditional medicinal

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In Jamaica, Bidens reptans is reported as used for the common cold and flu.[4] In Costa Rica the leaf is considered medicinal.[5] In Mexico the plant is used to treat injuries.[6]

Honey production

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In west-central Mexico, Bidens reptans is listed among the most desirable species of Asteraceae as a source of both nectar and pollen.[7]

Taxonomy

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The basionym for Bidens reptans is Coreopsis reptans, published in 1759 by Linnaeus."[3]

Synonyms

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In 2026, the following synonyms were accepted for Bidens reptans G.Don:[8]

  • Bidens boquetiensis Roseman (1990)
  • Bidens brittonii Sherff (1913)
  • Bidens coreopsidis DC (1836)
  • Bidens coreopsidis var. reptans (L.) DC. (1836)
  • Bidens dissecta (O.E.Schulz) Sherff (1913)
  • Bidens izabalensis Roseman (1990)
  • Bidens reptans var. bipartita O.E.Schulz (1911)
  • Bidens reptans var. brittonii (Sherff) O.E.Schulz ex Urb. (1929)
  • Bidens reptans var. coreopsidis (DC.) Sherff (1948)
  • Bidens reptans var. dissecta O.E.Schulz (1911)
  • Bidens reptans var. tomentosa O.E.Schulz (1911)
  • Bidens reptans var. urbanii (Greenm.) O.E.Schulz (1911)
  • Bidens rubifolia var. coreopsidis (DC.) Baker (1884)
  • Bidens urbanii Greenm. (1907)
  • Coreopsis chrysantha Spreng. (1826)
  • Coreopsis reptans L. (1759)
  • Coreopsis variifolia Salisb. (1796)

A variety in alternative taxonomy

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Sometimes the taxon Bidens squarrosa var. squarrosa is listed as a variety of Bidens reptans. This odd situation is recognized as an alternative approach in botanical literature to reflect the two taxons' high degree of similarity and common ancestry.[9]

Etymology

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The genus name Bidens is from the New Latin bi, meaning "two", and dens meaning "tooth"; so "two-toothed", alluding to the two bristle-like awns atop the original species' cypselae.[10]

The species name reptans comes from the Latin reptāre, meaning "to creep", reflecting the fact that when not climbing the species creeps along the ground.[11]

References

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  1. ↑ "Bidens reptans G.Don". Plants of the World Online. United Kingdom: Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. Retrieved March 1, 2026.
  2. 1 2 Villarreal Q., José; Estrada C., Eduardo (December 2024). "Asteraceae Tribu Coreopsideae". Flora de Veracruz (in Spanish). 206. Xalapa, Veracruz, México: Instituto de Ecología, A.C.: 36–41. Retrieved March 2, 2026.
  3. 1 2 "Bidens reptans (L.) G.Don". catalogueoflife.org. Catalogue of Life. February 13, 2026. Retrieved March 2, 2026.
  4. ↑ Lowe, Henry; Steele, Blair; Fouad, Emadelden; Toyang, Ngwa (January 25, 2021). "Antiviral Activity of Jamaican Medicinal Plants and Isolated Bioactive Compounds". Molecules. 26 (3). PubMed Central: 607. doi:10.3390/molecules26030607. PMC 7865499. PMID 33503834.
  5. ↑ Kappele, Maarten; Guillaume, Avertin; Juárez, Marta E.; Zamora, Nelson (May 2000). "Useful Plants Within a Campesino Community in a Costa Rican Montane Cloud Forest" (PDF). Mountain Research and Development. 20 (2). BioOne Digital Library: 162–171. doi:10.1659/0276-4741(2000)020[0162:UPWACC]2.0.CO;2. Retrieved March 2, 2026.
  6. ↑ Mendoza Varela, Erika Litzahaya (August 2010). Conocimientos, percepciones y actitudes ambientales de jóvenes de bachillerato de dos cmunidades aledañas a la Reserva de la Biósfera Chamela - Cuixmala. Tesis para maestra en ciencias biológicas (in Spanish). Morelia, Michoacán, México: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. Retrieved March 2, 2026.
  7. ↑ Redonda-Martínez, Rosario (April 24, 2025). "Especies de Asteraceae con potencial apícola del Centro Occidente de México" (PDF). Acta Botanica Mexicana (in Spanish). 132 (e2409). México: Instituto de Ecología, A.C.: 162. doi:10.21829/abm132.2025.2409. Retrieved March 2, 2026.
  8. ↑ "Bidens reptans G.Don". Plants of the World Online. United Kingdom: Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. Retrieved March 2, 2026.
  9. ↑ Villaseñor, Jose Luis (1990). "A New Scandent Species of Bidens (Asteraceae) from the Balisas River Basin, Mexico". Aliso: A Journal of Systematic and Floristic Botany. 12 (3). California Botanic Garden: 579–582. Retrieved March 3, 2026.
  10. ↑ Strother, John L.; Weedon, Ronald R. "Bidens Linnaeus. In Flora of North America North of Mexico (FNA)". St. Louis, MO & Harvard University Herbaria, Cambridge, MA, USA: New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press via eFloras.org. pp. 184, 185, 205, 206. Retrieved March 2, 2026.
  11. ↑ "Bidens reptans var. speciosa". uv.mx (in Spanish). Xalapa, Veracruz, México: Instituto de Ecología, A.C. Flora de Veracruz. February 11, 2026. Retrieved March 2, 2026.
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