Bidens alba (L.)DC.

BEGGARTICKS; ROMERILLO

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The nativity of this species is doubtful (FNA, vol. 21), and, if native to Florida, it possibly is only native to South Florida. Quite likely it is an early introduction. The earliest known records in Florida are from the 1830s in Tampa Bay and Key West (Torrey & Gray 1842, as B. leucantha), and subsequently documented around Indian River in 1874 (Palmer, US), Cedar Keys in 1876 (Garber, US), Miami in 1877 (Garber, US), Manatee in 1889 (Simpson, US), and Mobile, Alabama in 1891 (Mohr, US). Some treatments have opted for recognizing only B. pilosa s.lat. (FNA, vol. 21; Melechert 2010; León de la Luz & Medel Narváez 2013), while others have continued to recognize B. alba, B. odorata, and B. pilosa s.s. (Ganders & Nagata 1983; Ballard 1986). Reportedly B. alba and B. pilosa s.s. are interfertile (Norton 1991). Bidens alba has been epitypified by a specimen from Veracruz, Mexico, the putative provenance of the original material (Ferrer-Gallego 2016). The epitype had been annotated by Ballard as B. alba.

Native FACW- (NWPL) FAC (DEP)

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