Bidens reptans

Bidens reptans displays these main features:{{cite journal • 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 long and 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 long and wide, topped with 2 sharp awns, with each awn bearing backward-pointing barbs. ==Distribution==

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. ==Habitat==

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. ==Human interactions==

Traditional medicinal In Jamaica, Bidens reptans is reported as used for the common cold and flu. In Costa Rica the leaf is considered medicinal.{{cite journal Honey production In west-central Mexico, Bidens reptans is listed among the most desirable species of Asteraceae as a source of both nectar and pollen.{{cite journal ==Taxonomy==

The basionym for Bidens reptans is Coreopsis reptans, published in 1759 by Linnaeus." A variety in alternative taxonomy 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. 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. Bidens reptans (2).jpg| Bidens reptans flowering heads Bidens reptans (3).jpg| Bidens reptans 2 series of involucral bracts Bidens reptans (4).jpg| Bidens reptans disk florets Bidens reptans (5).jpg| Bidens reptans cypselae awns with backward-pointing barbs Bidens reptans (6).jpg| Bidens reptans spine-like appendages Bidens reptans (7).jpg| Bidens reptans climbing into forest ==References==