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Bidens bipinnata - L.

Spanish Needles

Author	L.	Botanical references	43, 200
Family	Compositae	Genus	Bidens
Synonyms
Known Hazards	None known
Range	E. Asia. Eastern N. America.
Habitat	Rocky woods, roadsides and waste places, often in sandy soils, Florida to Mexico, north to Massachusetts and New York[43].
Edibility Rating	2 (1-5)	Medicinal Rating	2 (1-5)

Physical Characteristics

Annual growing to 1m.

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It requires moist soil.

Habitats

Cultivated Beds;

Edible Uses

Edible Parts: Leaves.

Edible Uses: Condiment; Tea.

Leaves and young shoots - cooked or used as a flavouring[177, 207]. Used as a vegetable[218]. A tea is made from the flowering tops[207].

Medicinal Uses

Antibacterial; Emmenagogue; Styptic; Vermifuge.

The root and seeds are popularly used as an emmenagogue and in the treatment of laryngeal and bronchial diseases[207]. A tea made from the leaves is vermifuge[222]. The leaves have been chewed as a treatment for sore throat[222]. The plant juice is styptic and has been used as ear drops[222]. An extract of the plant has bactericidal properties[218].

Other Uses

None known

Cultivation details

Succeeds in any moderately fertile moisture-retentive soil in full sun[200]. A good bee plant[200].

Propagation

Seed - sow mid to late spring in situ and only just cover the seed.

Links

Permaculture.info Details of this plant in the Permaculture.info project, a community plant and permaculture database.

References

[43] Fernald. M. L. Gray's Manual of Botany. American Book Co. 1950
A bit dated but good and concise flora of the eastern part of N. America.

[177] Kunkel. G. Plants for Human Consumption. Koeltz Scientific Books 1984 ISBN 3874292169
An excellent book for the dedicated. A comprehensive listing of latin names with a brief list of edible parts.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

[207] Coffey. T. The History and Folklore of North American Wild Flowers. Facts on File. 1993 ISBN 0-8160-2624-6
A nice read, lots of information on plant uses.

[218] Duke. J. A. and Ayensu. E. S. Medicinal Plants of China Reference Publications, Inc. 1985 ISBN 0-917256-20-4
Details of over 1,200 medicinal plants of China and brief details of their uses. Often includes an analysis, or at least a list of constituents. Heavy going if you are not into the subject.

[222] Foster. S. & Duke. J. A. A Field Guide to Medicinal Plants. Eastern and Central N. America. Houghton Mifflin Co. 1990 ISBN 0395467225
A concise book dealing with almost 500 species. A line drawing of each plant is included plus colour photographs of about 100 species. Very good as a field guide, it only gives brief details about the plants medicinal properties.

Readers Comments

Bidens bipinnata

Mary Zan Warren Fri Jul 30 13:25:33 2004

I have this plant growing wild, coming up in my squash in one area. Where this plant is present in my squash I have NO squash bugs. In other squash garden areas without this plant, there ARE many squash bugs.

Bidens bipinnata

d_pfalzer Tue Feb 20 2007

This plant grows wild in waste places through out the Tampa, Florida area. According to the Peterson Field Guide of Eastern/Central Medicinal Plants and Herbs it is known not only as Spanish Needles, but also as Soapbush Needles. This second name makes me think that it must have an other use involving the making of soaps. I wonder what the details of that is. This plant grows so abundantly around here that one could easily harvest great quantities of it without disturbing the ecosystem.

Bidens bipinnata

Ken Fern, Plants for a Future Tue Feb 20 2007

We have no records of this plant being used as a soap. There are three main ways in which a plant can be used to make soap:- 1. An oil obtained from the seed is used as an ingredient in making soap. 2. The plant is burnt to provide potash which is also an ingredient in making soap. 3. The plant contains saponins - naturally lathering substances that can be extracted by gently simmering the plant in water to make a safe, natural and gentle soap. As far as I know, the seeds are not a good source of oil. Therefore, if the plant has been used in making soap it is by method 2 or 3.

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