Everything about Acaena totally explained
Acaena is a genus of about 100 species of
perennial herbs and
subshrubs in the
Rosaceae, native mainly to the
Southern Hemisphere, notably
New Zealand,
Australia and
South America, but with a few species extending into the
Northern Hemisphere, north to
Hawaii (
A. exigua) and
California (
A. pinnatifida).
The
leaves are alternate, 4-15 cm long, and pinnate or nearly so, with 7-21 leaflets. The
flowers are produced in a tight globose inflorescence 1-2 cm diameter, with no petals. The
fruit is also a dense ball of many
seeds; in many (but not all) species the seeds bear a barbed arrowhead point, the seedhead forming a
burr which attaches itself to
animal fur or
feathers for dispersal.
Several
Acaena species in New Zealand are known by the common name
bidibid. The word is written variously
biddy-biddy,
biddi-biddi,
biddi-bid and a number of other variations. These names are the English rendition of the original Māori name of
piripiri.
Selected species
- Acaena adscendens
- Acaena anserinifolia
- Acaena argentea
- Acaena buchananii
- Acaena caesiiglauca
- Acaena dumicola
- Acaena emittens
- Acaena exigua - Liliwai
- Acaena fissistipula
- Acaena glabra
- Acaena inermis
- Acaena juvenca
- Acaena laevigata
- Acaena lucida
- Acaena magellanica
- Acaena microphylla
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Acaena myriophylla
Acaena novae-zelandiae - bidibid
Acaena ovalifolia
Acaena ovina
Acaena pallida - Sand bidibid
Acaena pinnatifida - Sheepburr
Acaena platyacantha
Acaena pumila
Acaena rorida
Acaena saccaticupula
Acaena sanguisorbae
Acaena sericea
Acaena splendens
Acaena tesca
Acaena trifida
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Invasive species
Some species have been introduced accidentally to other areas, attached to
sheep's
wool, and have become
invasive species.
A. novae-zelandiae, one of the bidibids from New Zealand, is the most commonly encountered species in
Great Britain, where it's often abundant on coastal sand dunes, crowding out native vegetation and creating an often painful nuisance with the barbed burrs. In California,
A. pallida, from New Zealand and southeast Australia, is similarly a problem species.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Acaena'.
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