Acaena

Acaena subsp. var.	Biddy biddy, New Zealand burr, Sheep's burrs
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Acaena is a genus of about one hundred 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|HawaiTemplate:Okinai]] (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 in 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.

Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture

Acaena (from Greek word signifying thorn). Rosaceae. New Zealand Bur. Trailing, more or less evergreen plants used in rockwork and as ground cover under trees and between other plants. About 40 species of sub-shrubs or herbs of the southern hemisphere, allied to Agrimonia and Sanguisorba: lvs. unequally pinnate, alternate, the lfts. toothed or cut: fls. small, crowded in erect terminal spikes or heads; petals none; calyx 5-7-lobed, usually armed with spines; stamens 1-10, or even more: fr. an achene, 1 or 2 being enclosed in the hardened calyx. Acaenas are little grown in this country, but are prized in England as groundwork for dwarf spring-flowering bulbs, as trilliums; also useful in protecting native orchids and bog plants.CH The above text is from the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture. It may be out of date, but still contains valuable and interesting information which can be incorporated into the remainder of the article. Click on "Collapse" in the header to hide this text.

Cultivation

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Propagation

Propagation is by cuttings, divisions and seeds.^CH

Pests and diseases

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Species

Selected species^wp

Acaena adscendens Acaena anserinifolia Acaena argentea Acaena buchananii Acaena caesiiglauca Acaena dumicola Macmillan, 1985 (South Island of New Zealand) Acaena emittens Macmillan, 1989 (North Island of New Zealand) Acaena exigua A.Gray - Liliwai ([[Hawaii|HawaiTemplate:Okinai]]) Acaena fissistipula Acaena glabra Acaena inermis Acaena juvenca Macmillan, 1989 (New Zealand) Acaena laevigata Acaena lucida Acaena magellanica Acaena microphylla

Acaena myriophylla Acaena novae-zelandiae Kirk - Bidibid (New Zealand) Acaena ovalifolia Acaena ovina Acaena pallida (Kirk) Allen - Sand bidibid Acaena pinnatifida Ruiz & Pav. - Sheepburr Acaena platyacantha Acaena pumila Acaena rorida Macmillan, 1991 (North Island of New Zealand) Acaena saccaticupula Acaena sanguisorbae Acaena sericea Acaena splendens Acaena tesca Macmillan, 1991 (South Island of New Zealand) Acaena trifida

Gallery

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References

• Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture, by L. H. Bailey, MacMillan Co., 1963

External links

• w:Acaena. Some of the material on this page may be from Wikipedia, under the Creative Commons license.
• Acaena QR Code (Size 50, 100, 200, 500)