The Dawes Arboretum

Common name: Virginia stickseed

Family: Boraginaceae (borage family)

Synonym: Myosotis virginiana

Distribution: c. and e. North America

Life form: Herbaceous perennial

Comments: Stickseed is kind of a "love it or hate it" plant – it is a native wildflower, but can be quite a nuisance as the seeds (burs) are extremely difficult to remove from clothes or pet fur (and they inevitably end up on you whether you can recall seeing the plant and getting close enough to brush past it or not). It also can be weedy, preferring disturbed woods and spreading easily. The flowers are small and white, blooming in mid-summer. It is a biennial plant so in the first year only the basal rosette of foliage is seen and then in the second year is when the flowering stalk forms. Bees and flies are common pollinators of this plant.