Bidens parviflora
Willd.
Asteraceae
Bidens macrosperma Fisch.
Bidens messerschmidii Turcz. ex Ledeb.
Bidens multifida Desf.
Bidens pauciflora Poir.
Common Name:
General Information
Bidens parviflora ia an erect, branched annual plant usually growing 20 - 50cm tall, occasionally to 80cm[
266- Title
- Flora of China
- Publication
-
- Author
-
- Website
- http://flora.huh.harvard.edu/china/
- Publisher
- Missouri Botanical Garden Press; St. Louis.
- Year
- 1994
- ISBN
-
- Description
- An excellent, comprehensive resource in 25 volumes. In addition to the botanical information the flora also gives basic information on habitat and some uses. An on-line version is also available.
].
The plant is harvested from the wild for local use as a medicine and probably also as a food.
Known Hazards
None known
Botanical References
58- Title
- Flora of Japan. (English translation)
- Publication
-
- Author
- Ohwi. G.
- Publisher
- Smithsonian Institution
- Year
- 1965
- ISBN
- -
- Description
- The standard work. Brilliant, but not for the casual reader.
,
74- Title
- Flora of the USSR.
- Publication
-
- Author
- Komarov. V. L.
- Website
- http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org
- Publisher
- Israel Program for Scientific Translation
- Year
- 1968
- ISBN
- -
- Description
- An immense (25 or more large volumes) and not yet completed translation of the Russian flora. Full of information on plant uses and habitats but heavy going for casual readers. It can be downloaded from the Internet.
Range
E. Asia - eastern Russia, Mongolia, China, Japan, Korea.
Habitat
Coastal and riverside precipices and rocks, sandy banks, rocky outcrops. Sometimes found as ruderales by stony fences, walls etc[
74- Title
- Flora of the USSR.
- Publication
-
- Author
- Komarov. V. L.
- Website
- http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org
- Publisher
- Israel Program for Scientific Translation
- Year
- 1968
- ISBN
- -
- Description
- An immense (25 or more large volumes) and not yet completed translation of the Russian flora. Full of information on plant uses and habitats but heavy going for casual readers. It can be downloaded from the Internet.
].
Properties
| Edibility Rating |  |
| Medicinal Rating |  |
| Habit | Annual |
| Height | 0.60 m |
| Pollinators | Insects |
| Cultivation Status | Wild |
Cultivation Details
Succeeds in any moderately fertile moisture-retentive soil in full sun[
200- Title
- The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992.
- Publication
-
- Author
- Huxley. A.
- Publisher
- MacMillan Press
- Year
- 1992
- ISBN
- 0-333-47494-5
- Description
- Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.
].
Edible Uses
Young plants - cooked[
177- Title
- Plants for Human Consumption.
- Publication
-
- Author
- Kunkel. G.
- Publisher
- Koeltz Scientific Books
- Year
- 1984
- ISBN
- 3874292169
- Description
- An excellent book for the dedicated. A comprehensive listing of Latin names with a brief list of edible parts.
].
Medicinal
The plant is said to clear heat, detoxify, motivate blood circulation, and remove stasis. It is used in the treatment of conditions such as fever, coughing and sore throat in common cold; enteritis, diarrhoea, and appendicitis; infantile fever with convulsions; trauma, frostbite, itching skin rash, carbuncles and furuncles, or snake bites (for the latter applications it can also be used topically, by pulverizing the herb)[
178- Title
- Chinese Materia Medica.
- Publication
-
- Author
- Stuart. Rev. G. A.
- Publisher
- Taipei. Southern Materials Centre
- Year
- 1911
- ISBN
- -
- Description
- A translation of an ancient Chinese herbal. Fascinating.
,
1103- Title
- Bidens: A Popular Remedy Escapes Notice of Western Practitioners
- Publication
-
- Author
- Subhuti Dharmananda, Ph.D
- Publisher
- Institute for Traditional Medicine, Portland, Oregon
- Year
- 0
- ISBN
-
- Description
- A leaflet produced by the Institute for Traditional Medicine, Portland, Oregon. It looks at the scientific research into the medicinal properties of the genus Bidens, giving full references to the various papers
].
Other Uses
None known
Propagation
Seed - sow early spring in a greenhouse and only just cover the seed. When they are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and plant them out in May.
Alternatively, a sowing in situ in mid to late spring can be tried.
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Useful Temperate Plants Database 2016 by
Ken Fern,
web interface by
Ajna Fern
with help from
Richard Morris.
