Macquarie Valley Weeds Committee & Lachlan Valley Weeds Advisory Committee

Cobbler's Pegs

Botanical Name:	Bidens pilosa
Other Common Names:
Declarations
	Not Declared
Landholder Responsibilities:
Why Is It Bad?:	A native of South America, Cobbler's Pegs is now widely distributed in Australia. It grows on disturbed sites such as wasteground or roadsides. It prefers dry, infertile soils.
Identification
Habit:	Herb
Leaves:	Leaves are opposite, divided pinnately and made up of 3-5 ovate-lanceolate stalked leaflets. Leaflets are 3-6cm long with toothed margins.
Flowers:	Flowers occur at the end of slender stems, 5-15mm in diameter, white or yellow with petals often absent. If petals are present, they are short and white. Bracts occur in 2-3 rows. Outer involcural bracts are shorter than inner bracts and have hairy margins. Flowering occurs from late summer through autumn.
Fruit:	Seeds are slender, black, 6-12mm long with 2-3 barbed awns (5mm long).
Roots:
Control Methods
Manual Removal:
Chemical Use:
Fire:
Slashing & Cutting:
Biological Control:
Grazing:	Dairy cattle are not recommended for grazing control as the aromatic oil present in the plant has an offensive smell that can taint milk. Cobbler's Peg is only sparingly eaten by stock and when in dense stands can become troublesome to sheep. The barbed seeds firmly adhere to the wool and render much of the belly wool and lower parts of the fleece, making it difficult to class and separate.
Cultivation & Scalping:
Smothering:
Solarisation:
Competition:
Monitoring:

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Image Credit: Andrew Cosier