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Beggarslice

Hackelia virginiana

Also called Beggar's Lice, Virginia Stickseed, Sticktight, Stickseed

Beggarslice
Photo: User:SB_Johnny, CC BY-SA 3.0

Beggarslice is a biennial wildflower of eastern North American woodlands, known for its sticky, hooked seed burs that cling to clothing and fur. It is grown mainly as a wild native rather than a garden ornamental.

Family
Boraginaceae (Borage family)
Light
Part shade, Shade
Water
Keep soil evenly moist during the growing season, avoiding waterlogging.
Soil
Moist, humus-rich woodland soil.
Temperature
Hardy in cold winters typical of eastern North America; no specific limits found.
How easy
Easy
Native range
SE. U.S.A.

About

Hackelia virginiana, a biennial plant, is commonly known as beggar's lice, sticktight or stickseed. However, the common names beggar's lice and stick-tight are also used for very different plants, such as Desmodium species that are also known as "tick-trefoil".

Where it grows

The plant is native to Eastern Canada and throughout the Midwestern and Eastern United States.

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Hackelia virginiana by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.

The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.

Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.

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