Flower profile
Spanish needles
Bidens bipinnata
Spanish needles is a wildflower that USDA PLANTS lists as native in the lower 48 states.
*iNaturalist research-grade observations, as of October 17, 2026.
On our lists for: Kansas
Quick look
Bidens bipinnata is a common and widespread species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae.
- It belongs to the Asteraceae family. iNaturalist
- USDA PLANTS describes it as an herb (forb) with a annual life cycle. USDA PLANTS
- USDA PLANTS lists it as native in the lower 48 states and records it in 33 states. USDA PLANTS
- NatureServe lists it as native to Kansas. NatureServe
- iNaturalist has 335 research-grade sightings of it in Kansas, ranking #77 among the 109 flowers on our Kansas list. iNaturalist
Spanish needles gift ideas
Handmade spanish needles gifts from independent makers.
🌱 Sample spot. Handmade gift picks from independent shops will appear here once our shop partnership is approved. These cards are placeholders, not real products.
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Spanish needles art print
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Spanish needles greeting card
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Spanish needles mug
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Spanish needles earrings
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Spanish needles embroidery pattern
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Spanish needles sticker
When does it bloom?
There are only a handful of Kansas flowering records, so this chart uses records from across the U.S.
Conservation status
- Federal (U.S. ESA)
- Not listed No U.S. Endangered Species Act listing in the USFWS ECOS database. USFWS ECOS
- NatureServe global
- G5 Secure worldwide. NatureServe
- Kansas
- No list Kansas's endangered and threatened list (K.A.R. 115-15-1) covers animals only, so we show NatureServe's Kansas ranks for plants. NatureServe: S5, secure in Kansas.
- Rare elsewhere
- No other U.S. state ranks it S1, S2, SH or SX.
Checked October 17, 2026. Rankings and lists can change, so follow the links for the latest.
Can you eat it?
None of the sources we checked (NC State Extension (no page for this plant), USDA PLANTS) say whether it's edible or poisonous for people.
It isn't on the ASPCA plant list.
🌿 Never eat a wild plant unless you're certain of its ID; this isn't medical advice. Worried about a person? Call Poison Control at 1-800-222-1222. Worried about a pet? Call your vet.
Where does it grow?
USDA PLANTS records spanish needles in 33 states plus Washington, D.C.
recorded by USDA PLANTS on our state lists not recorded
See the full list of states
Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia; District of Columbia.
Kansas counties with USDA records: Allen, Anderson, Atchison, Barber, Barton, Bourbon, Brown, Chase, Cherokee, Clark, Clay, Cloud, Coffey, Comanche, Cowley, Crawford, Dickinson, Doniphan, Douglas, Elk, Ellis, Ellsworth, Ford, Franklin, Geary, Graham, Greenwood, Hamilton, Harvey, Jackson, Jefferson, Johnson, Kingman, Kiowa, Labette, Lane, Leavenworth, Lincoln, Linn, Lyon, Marshall, McPherson, Meade, Miami, Montgomery, Morris, Nemaha, Neosho, Ness, Norton, Osage, Osborne, Pawnee, Phillips, Pottawatomie, Pratt, Reno, Republic, Rice, Riley, Rush, Russell, Saline, Scott, Sedgwick, Shawnee, Sheridan, Smith, Stafford, Stanton, Sumner, Trego, Wabaunsee, Washington, Wilson, Wyandotte.
More Kansas flowers
Sources
- USDA, NRCS. PLANTS Database, profile BIBI7.
- iNaturalist, Bidens bipinnata: taxonomy, research-grade observation counts and “Flowering” annotations, retrieved October 17, 2026.
- Wikipedia, Bidens bipinnata (lead quoted under CC BY-SA 4.0).
- Kansas: Kansas noxious weeds (K.A.R. 4-8-44, as amended 2026).
- USFWS, ECOS species database (ESA listing check), October 17, 2026.
- NatureServe Explorer, Bidens bipinnata (global and state ranks).
- Edibility and toxicity: no source found (marked "not well documented").
- Photo: Anne Parker via iNaturalist · CC BY 4.0 · resized.