Nodding Beggarticks

Bidens cernua

Pollinator Value

🐛 Larval Host: Epiblema otiosana
S14 Nearctic, in stems; S10 Bidens Borer Moth
🐝 Specialist Bee Host: Colletes compactus, Melissodes dentiventris (genus-level Bidens specialists, northeastern NA)
S17 Fowler pollen specialist table
❄️ Winter Food Source: Persistent achenes with barbed awns provide winter food for Common Redpoll and other seed-eating birds. Seeds also eaten by Mallard, Swamp Sparrow, and Purple Finch. American Coot documented feeding on seeds.
S57+S10

Proximity Score: 0
Native Status: ✅ Outaouais ❌ Ottawa ✅ QC ✅ ON
Closest Direction: Local
CEC Eco-Regions: 5 – Northern Forests, 5.2 – Mixed Wood Shield, 5.2.3 – Algonquin/Southern Laurentians
Rarity Notes: Globally secure (G5) and secure in both Ontario and Quebec (S5/S5). Not listed under SARA or COSEWIC. Widespread across North America from coast to coast.
S22+S26
Rarity Ranks: QC S5 – Secure, ON S5 – Secure
Migration: Stable
Ecological Context: An obligate wetland annual of marshes, shorelines, and floodplains. Thrives on exposed mudflats and drawdown zones of ponds and rivers, often in abundance with other Bidens species. Tolerates degraded wetlands as well as high-quality marshes and fens.
S7+S10+S11

Roles: Fortress/Barrier, Living Mulch, Pollinator Attractor
S73/S29/S72 Evidence: Fortress/Barrier: S61 keyword match: spines? (supporting signal only)] | Living Mulch: S10 keyword match: forms? colon(?:y|ies) (supporting signal only)] | Pollinator Attractor: S73 [MEDIUM]: S68 97 bee associations (threshold=3)]

❌ Not Edible

Foraging Notes: No documented edible uses. USDA rates palatability to humans as none.
S11+S28