Bidibid

Botanical name: Acaena saccaticupula

Common name(s): Bidibid, Piripiri

Plant facts:

An attractive alpine ground cover with dull green to bluish-green foliage and striking red flower heads. This dense mat-forming species spreads across open mountain habitats and produces hooked seed heads that aid natural dispersal.

Natural habitat:

Found in montane to alpine environments, especially amongst snow tussock grasslands, herbfields, fellfields, and persistently snow-covered areas.

Growing environment:

Frost, Sun, Wind & Free draining tolerant.

Endemic distribution:

Endemic to the South Island, mainly east of the Southern Alps from Marlborough to Otago.

Height:

Approximately 5 cm tall, spreading up to 1 m wide

Flowering:

December – January
Produces rounded red to pink flower heads on sturdy red stems.

Fruiting:

January – March
Develops pale brown hooked burrs for dispersal by animals and wind.

Uses:

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

Appearance:

Growth habit:
A dense, stoloniferous perennial herb forming spreading mats through creeping stems that root at the nodes.

Leaves:
Leaves are finely divided with 9–15 toothed leaflets. Foliage is dull green to bluish-green and may develop pink tinges along the margins.

Flowers:
Rounded flower heads are red to pink in colour and borne on stout red stems above the foliage.

Fruit:
Produces cone-shaped seed heads with short hooked spines that dry pale brown as they mature.

How to grow:

Best grown in full sun with free-draining soil. Ideal for alpine gardens, scree plantings, and exposed dry sites. Propagation is by division or seed.