10/10/2025
When it is appropriate, I take my dog into the field- good for her, also good for me. If you have walked along any waterbody on our Northeast coast of Canada, you undoubtedly know the 'Beggar Tick' from genus Bidens, part of the aster family (Asteraceae). They’re common wildflowers in North America, often found in ditches, streambanks, and disturbed soils such as lakeshores. We have 3 species in New Brunswick: Bidens frondosa — Common beggar-ticks or devil’s beggarticks. Bidens cernua — Nodding bur-marigold (often near rivers or wetlands). Bidens connata — Purple-stemmed beggar-ticks. Have you ever combed and picked several hundred of these seeds from the wiry hair of an Aussiedoodle? It is memorable, but worth it. These are the seeds, my dog Luna, and the plants in question- I may have called them a w**d (and worse) during the removal, but really they are a part of our ecosystem and their tenacity certainly enhances their dispersal or, er, disposal.
