What's the Buzz?

Recognize this plant? It's a tropical weed that grows all over the place, looks like a daisy, and gets it's stickers stuck in your socks! Now look again, but this time with admiration and respect... Spanish needles, or Bidens alba, is the number two nectar source for Florida's honeybees! Butterflies go crazy for it too. It's a host for the sulphur butterfly, and our state butterfly, the zebra longwing, feeds on it ravenously. 

It's also a superfood! You can eat the flowers raw, and the leaves, shoots and tips are good too. My chickens love it, so I pick a bunch everyday for their breakfast "salad." It's super nutritious. It contains betacarotene, calcium and iron. It works well as a tea, especially with ginger, and makes a good cooked green.

It also possesses medicinal value. It's used for high blood pressure, diabetes, jaundice and on cuts. It's succeeds where resistance has built up to traditional antibiotics. And research suggests that it may have some use in fighting colon cancer. They say it's good for wounds, colds and flu. It's anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, antimalarial and a diuretic to boot.

Egyptian researchers found that it shows antimicrobial activity against pneumonia, tuberculosis, staph, salmonella and gonorrhea. Powdered seeds aid clotting, and some believe are good for the prostate. The list goes on and on...

Here at home, I feel guilty every time I pick one. Thankfully, they spring up endlessly, and my bees are so happy! And when my collards run out, well, there are Spanish needles growing in every corner of the yard, so we'll never go hungry!