Stickseed

a plant of the borage family. A more common name is beggar's lice. The name is due to from one to three rows of prickles or hooks which arm the seeds, causing them to adhere to clothing, the hair of animals, etc. The hooks are one of Nature's devices for scattering the seeds. The seeds catch in the wool of sheep and make clots which give no end of trouble to the wool spinner. The most common American stickseed is known to botanists as Echino-spermum Virginicum, meaning the Virginian hedgehog seed. This weed has minute blue flowers which remind one some-what of the forget-me-not. The stem and leaves are hairy. The plant is a pest along roads and in sheep pastures.