Bidibid

Botanical name: Acaena microphylla var. microphylla

Common name(s): Bidibid, Piripiri, New Zealand Burr

Plant facts:

A very small, mat-forming native ground cover with shiny green to bronze foliage and decorative red seed heads. This compact species spreads across gravelly alpine and montane environments and is valued for its fine texture and colourful fruiting display.

Natural habitat:

Typically found in montane to low alpine grasslands, river terraces, and unconsolidated gravelly substrates.

Growing environment:

Frost, Sun, Wind & Free draining tolerant.

Endemic distribution:

Endemic to New Zealand’s central North Island.

Height:

Approximately 2 cm tall, spreading up to 50 cm wide

Flowering:

November – January
Produces small white globe-shaped flower heads.

Fruiting:

January – April
Develops red to crimson spiny seed heads that mature brown or golden-brown.

Uses:

• Ground cover
• Alpine and rock garden planting
• Erosion control
• Texture planting in dry gardens

Appearance:

Growth habit:
A tiny creeping perennial forming dense mats through spreading rhizomes and rooting stems.

Leaves:
Leaves are finely divided with 9–15 small rounded leaflets. Foliage is glossy green or bronze with tiny hair-tipped teeth along the margins.

Flowers:
Small white flower heads are borne on short hairy stems above the foliage.

Fruit:
Produces decorative cone-shaped seed heads with red or crimson non-barbed spines that fade brown as they mature.

How to grow:

Best grown in full sun and free-draining soils. Well suited to alpine gardens, gravel plantings, and dry exposed areas. Easily propagated by division or seed.