The Plant World 



A MONTHLY JOURNAL OF POPULAR BOTANY. 



Vol. 111. NOVEMBER, 1900. No. 1 



AN ORNAMENTAL SPECIES OF BIDENS. 



By G. N. Collins. 



T^^'E^'TY years ago Dr. Edward Palmer In-ought the first seed of 

 Cosmos from the canyons near Guadalajara, Mexico, and pro- 

 posed it as an ornamental. Like so many other valual)le nov- 

 elties it received little attention at first and was cast aside as a worth- 

 less weed. Only after considerable time, and the wide distribution of 

 seed by the Department of Agriculture, was the plant gradually taken 

 uj) by seedsmen, and made a popular flower. 



Among the many species brought more recently from Mexico by 

 iJoctor Palmer were some seeds of Bidens heterophylla^ which he 

 thinks even more deserving of popularity than Cosmos. The seed was 

 sown last spring on the trial grounds of the Department of Agricul- 

 ture on the Potomac Flats. The plants have made a vigorous growth, 

 and have produced such an abundance of handsome yellow flowers, 

 quite unlike those of the more northern members of the genus, that it 

 appears not iinpossil)le that this species may some day rival Cosmos 

 and repeat its history. The plants have a rather spreading habit and 

 have reached a height of four feet. The leaves, as the specific name 

 implies, are variable in shajjc being either simple or two or three 

 parted. The flower- heads are often two-and-a-half inches across with 

 5 to 10 rays and quite closely resemble those of Cosmos except in 

 color. The disk is orano-e, varied with black after the dark anthers 

 have [)r()truded from the open flowers. The rays are orange, tipped 

 with a lighter shade of yellow. 



This species exhibits a marked tendency to sport in the color of 

 its (lowers. One well marked form found among the plants growing 



