Needle grass (Bidens pilosa) belongs to the Asteraceae family. The genus Bidens has at least 200 species of annuals, perennials and deciduous shrubs growing all over the world, in America, Africa, Polynesia, Europe and Asia since generally tropical climates are their preference. The one that we know best in our regions fills the pots and planters of many gardens, it is the ferule-leaved bidens (Bidens ferulifolia) but in the Caribbean, the needle grass (Bidens pilosa) is well known for its therapeutic virtues.
Needle grass, anti-inflammatory
Bidens pilosa, needle grass, needle grass, weed-weed, hairy bident, spiky bident, prickly, prickly-black, snotweed or many other names given locally, is therefore an herbaceous annual plant considered as a weed that grows in a cosmopolitan in tropical and subtropical countries.
Its reddish, quadrangular, hollow, very branched, erect stems can reach 1m or even 1.5m in height. The deciduous leaves, glabrous, opposite, are strongly toothed and cut into 3 or 5 lanceolate segments.
The flowers are united in discoid heads composed of white ligulate flowers around numerous yellow non-ligulate flowers in the center. The completed flowering gives way to fruiting in the form of black fusiform achenes with 2 barbed edges (bi-tooth) which cling to clothing or animal hair, thus ensuring the dissemination of the plant in an uncontrolled way, since the seeds germinate immediately regardless of location, including those disturbed by human activity.
Needle grass contains flavonoids, polyphenols and catechin tannins.
The medicinal benefits of needle grass
It is the anti-inflammatory and soothing virtues of sore throats that make the leaves of the needle grass so successful in herbal medicine.
In case of fever, needle grass is said to have antipyretic (or febrifuge) effects.
People with hypertension would see improvements due to the plant’s hypotensive properties.
The application of needle grass leaf poultice would also be beneficial in treating hemorrhoids, wounds, burns, herpes, eczema and other skin diseases. Some even go so far as to attribute beneficial effects against skin aging to it.
It is also attributed digestive, diuretic and hepato-protective benefits, especially in the event of liver engorgement and gastric ulcers.
In the French pharmacopoeia, needle grass (Bidens pilosa) is listed on “List A of traditionally used medicinal plants” more specifically the leaves and the whole plant with “use in traditional European and overseas medicine” .
It is rare to find it in mainland France, especially since the fresh leaves offer more active properties than the dry leaves which degrade. But, for example, in Martinique or Reunion, where it grows spontaneously, the inhabitants use the plant in the form of a decoction or an infusion of the dry or fresh leaves, or even in the preparation of a poultice of crushed leaves.
Water hemp (Bidens tripartita), another species common to wetlands and ditches on all continents, is also used for the same therapeutic purposes.
The plant in the kitchen
Needle grass leaves are eaten raw or cooked as a vegetable, especially in East Africa when the risk of famine increases, or in the cuisine of Madagascar which includes young needle grass leaves in the preparation of a traditional dish, romazava.
