Related to Spanish needles, most of the Beggar Ticks (Bidens frondosa) in Schenley Park have not yet gone to seed.
When they do they will stick tight to my clothing. It happens every year.
Click here to see the seeds that I call “Hitchhikers“.
(photo by Kate St. John)
Another incredibly annoying seed is showy tick trefoil. I am almost sure they are in the pea family, and their seeds look like lobed pea pods, but the lobes break off into into individual seed pods when they grab hold of your clothing. I got covered with them last weekend during a walk in the (not so wet) wetlands at Boyce Mayview park. I am going to take the opportunity to throw the seeds I cleaned off my pants and shirt into the woods around my house to see if I can get it to grow there. I hate the seeds, but the plants are very pretty and provide food for many types of wildlife.
I wanted to look up more specific information on the plants at the USDA Plants Database web site, but they’ve shut it down during the government shutdown! I wish Congress would shut themselves down. It’s very unfair that they still get paid when they stop paying the rest of the government employees during the shutdown.
May I have permission to use the photo of Beggar’s tick plant for an educational presentation to small homeschool group?