Bidens cernua

Nodding bur-marigold, Nodding Bur-Marigold

Family: Asteraceae · Type: annual · Native

Nodding bur-marigold is a native annual found in the Klamath Ranges, northern California Coast Ranges, Cascade Range, northern Sierra Nevada, northern central Coast, and Great Basin in freshwater wetlands at elevations below 2,000 meters. Flowering from July to October, this plant produces yellow ray flowers 8 to 15 millimeters long, with distinctive nodding heads that are erect when in flower and drooping when bearing fruit. Growing 1 to 9 decimeters tall with erect stems that are glabrous to short-rough-hairy, it has lance-linear to lanceolate leaves fused around the stem. Its leaves measure 4 to 20 centimeters long, with serrated edges and an acuminate tip, sessile and attached directly to the stem. The fruit is a narrowly wedge-shaped, 4-angled structure 5 to 7 millimeters long with barbed angles and typically four pappus awns.

Habitat: Freshwater wetlands

Bloom period: Jul-Oct

Elevation: < 2000 m

Bioregions: KR, NCoR, CaR, n SN, n CCo, GB

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.