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Even now, they’re lingering along the roadside waiting for you to pick them up and take them wherever you’re going. Some will ride inside your car, others on the chassis, and a few lucky ones will find their way into your clothing. Yes, weeds that spread by people, or hitchhiking, have certainly taken advantage of you this year. In fact, the average car carries two to four seeds for hitchhiker plants at any given time!
As an avid hiker and nature enthusiast, I frequently find myself covered in tiny green seeds that cling to my clothing after spending time outdoors. These pesky “hitchhikers” can be extremely frustrating, spreading invasive plants and ruining clothes. However, the more I learn about them, the more fascinating I find their clever methods of dispersal.
The most common green seeds that stick to clothes belong to burdocks, tick-trefoils, and beggar’s-lice. Burdocks, such as great burdock and common burdock, produce bristly seed heads designed to latch onto fur and fabrics. For example, common burdock (Arctium minus) has hooked burs that grab and cling. Tick-trefoils, including pointed-leaf tick-trefoil and showy tick-trefoil, have seeds with hooked tips that snag and cling. Beggar’s-lice, also called stickseeds or sticktight, are covered in tiny grappling hooks that attach to clothing.
These plants rely on humans and animals to spread their seeds far and wide As we brush by, the tenacious seeds hook into socks, shoelaces, sleeves, and pants We unknowingly give them a free ride, transporting them from place to place on our clothes. Some may cling for miles before eventually dropping off in a new location to sprout and grow. This dispersal method is ingenious but can also be extremely annoying.
While fascinating, this strategy causes major headaches for hikers like myself The sharp, spiny seeds can be difficult and painful to remove They can damage clothing, poking holes and leaving green stains. The clinging seeds I track indoors can also be a nuisance, dropping onto carpets and furniture. Even more problematic, the seeds spread invasive plant species that wreak havoc on ecosystems. In the United States alone, noxious weeds spread by hitchhiking cause around $7.4 billion in lost productivity and control costs annually. Some grazing animals have even died from ingesting the barbed, spiny seeds while foraging.
So what’s the best way to deal with these pesky hitchhikers? Here are some tips I’ve learned
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Inspect your clothes before going inside and remove any clinging seeds. Turn socks and shirt cuffs inside out and check carefully.
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Use sticky tape or rubber gloves to help remove stubborn seeds. Avoid pulling hard to prevent holes in clothes.
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Wash clothing soon after exposure to detach remaining seeds. Use heavy-duty settings for heavily infested items.
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Clean vehicles after driving through weed-infested areas. Check wheel wells and undercarriages where seeds collect.
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Cover garden soil with mulch or ground cover to prevent weeds. Maintain healthy plants to outcompete weed seedlings.
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Weed early and often. Remove invasives before they go to seed. Bag and dispose of mature weeds properly.
While inconvenient, the clever seed dispersal of hitchhiking plants is an impressive evolutionary adaptation. However, a few precautionary measures can help prevent you from becoming an unwitting participant in their propagation. With proper diligence, you can enjoy the outdoors seed-free and weed-free. The battle against clingy green hitchhikers rages on, but awareness and prevention can empower us in the fight.
Common Green Hitchhiking Seeds
Here are some of the most common green seeds that hitchhike by sticking to clothes:
Burdock
This includes great burdock (Arctium lappa) and common burdock (Arctium minus). They produce sticky, spiny burs designed to cling to fabrics and fur. The burs can be quite large, up to an inch wide.
Frequency: 5
Tick-Trefoil
Plants like showy tick-trefoil (Desmodium canadense) and pointed-leaf tick trefoil (Desmodium glutinosum). Their seeds have little hooks perfect for snagging onto clothing and socks. The seeds are often grouped in bristly pods.
Frequency: 4
Beggar’s-Lice
Also called sticktight or stickseed. Beggar’s-lice (Bidens frondosa) and stickseeds like Virginia stickseed (Hackelia virginiana) are covered in tiny grappling hooks and bristles that cling fast to clothing. Even the slightest brush can attach dozens of seeds.
Frequency: 5
Cocklebur
Cockleburs (Xanthium species) produce hard, spiky burs that can painfully latch onto skin and clothing. The burs are clustered together in groups of 2-5 and can be up to an inch long.
Frequency: 2
Enchanter’s Nightshade
Enchanter’s nightshade (Circaea species) has small sticky seeds with hooked tips. The small size makes them easy to pick up unnoticed.
Frequency: 1
Bedstraw
Bedstraws like catchweed bedstraw (Galium aparine) have tiny burrs covered in tiny hooks or hairs. The seeds readily stick to clothing and animal fur.
Frequency: 2
Tips for Avoiding Hitchhikers
Here are some useful tips to prevent hitchhiking seeds from ruining your clothes:
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Wear long sleeves and pants when hiking or gardening. This creates a barrier between plants and skin.
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Check clothes thoroughly before going indoors – turning pockets and cuffs inside out. Remove any burs or seeds.
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Use sticky tape or rubber gloves to grab small seeds. Avoid pulling hard to prevent holes.
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Wash clothes immediately after exposure to detach remaining seeds. Use heavy duty settings.
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Dry clothes on high heat to kill any lingering seeds. Some can survive the washer.
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Clean cars after driving through weed-heavy areas. Check undercarriages and wheel wells.
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Apply preventative measures like mulch and barriers in gardens. Maintain thick vegetation to discourage weeds.
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Weed often to prevent maturity and seed spread. Bag and dispose of weeds properly.
The Bottom Line
Dealing with prickly hitchhiking seeds can be frustrating. However, being aware of common culprits like burdock and beggar’s-lice allows you to take preventative action. With some diligence, you can still enjoy the outdoors seed-free! Just remember to thoroughly check clothing after hiking and gardening. A few seeds might slip by, but removing the bulk will save you headaches later.
What are Hitchhiker Weeds?
Weed seeds spread in a variety of ways, whether traveling by water, air, or on animals. The group of weeds nicknamed the “hitchhikers” are seeds that stick to clothing and fur, making it difficult to dislodge them immediately. Their variously barbed adaptations ensure that the seeds will travel far and wide via animal locomotion, and most can be eventually shaken off down the road somewhere.
Although it might sound like all fun and games, the weeds spread by people are not only difficult to contain, but they’re also costly for everyone. Farmers lose an estimated $7.4 billion each year in productivity to eradicate these pest plants. Humans are spreading these seeds at a rate of 500 million to one billion seeds a year in cars alone!
Although the weeds within crop stands are annoying, those that appear in fields can be downright dangerous for grazing animals like horses and cattle.
Types of Hitchhiker Plants
There are at least 600 weed species that travel by hitchhiking with humans or on machines, 248 of which are considered noxious or invasive plants in North America. They come from every kind of plant, from herbaceous annuals to woody shrubs, and occupy every corner of the world. A few plants you might be familiar with include the following:
You can help slow the spread of these hitchhikers by carefully inspecting your clothing and pets before emerging from a wild area full of seeding plants, making sure to leave those unwanted weeds behind. Also, reseeding disturbed areas like your garden plot with a cover crop can ensure that there’s too much competition for hitchhikers to thrive.
Once those weeds emerge, digging them out is the only cure. Make sure to get 3 to 4 inches (8-10 cm.) of root when the plant is young, or else it’ll grow back from root fragments. If your problem plant is already flowering or going to seed, you can clip it at the ground and carefully bag it for disposal – composting will not destroy many of these types of weeds.
These Seeds Stick to My Clothes! Spanish Needles, Beggars Tick, Bidens bipinnata
FAQ
What are the little green seeds that stick to your clothes?
The plants are called tick-trefoil (Desmodium sp.). My father-in-law used to call them turkey peas, since wild turkeys and other game birds often ate them. These tiny pods are slightly less than a quarter inch long and they have tiny hooked hairs that adhere to most clothing. They are a real nuisance to remove.
What are the seeds stuck to clothes?
quite often um those those gel like things that are organic either disappear with heat. so hot wash leave it to soak for 24h. try and rinse with a cold shower and use the shower head cause you can blast seeds out. try and rinse the seeds out. and then try and wash it on the fatty hot wash as hot as the blanket will …
What kind of grass seeds stick to clothes?
- BURDOCKS.
- Great Burdock.
- Common Burdock.
- TICK-TREFOILS.
- Pointed-leaf Tick-trefoil has a pointed leaf.
- Showy Tick-trefoil has linear leaves.
- Beggar-ticks.
- Beggar’s-lice (Stickseed)
What are the green things that stick to your clothes called?
The group of weeds nicknamed the “hitchhikers” are seeds that stick to clothing and fur, making it difficult to dislodge them immediately.
What seeds stick to clothing?
The most common green seeds that stick to clothing belong to burdocks, tick-trefoils, and beggar’s-lice. Burdocks, such as great burdock and common burdock, produce bristly seed heads designed to latch onto fur and fabrics. Tick-trefoils, including pointed-leaf tick-trefoil and showy tick-trefoil, have seeds with hooked tips that snag and cling.
Do weed seeds stick to your clothes?
These weeds stick or hook to our clothing, dirty tools, machinery, or pet animals, spreading far and wide. The funny part is that we often aren’t aware of carrying them around. The weed seeds that stick to your clothes are commonly referred to as hitchhikers.
What plants stick to your clothing?
These pesky plants typically stick to our clothing, hair, fur, and feathers to disperse their seeds into new areas. Examples include Spanish Needles, Virginia Stickseed, Burdock, Cocklebur, and Bedstraw. These plants have hooks, spines, barbs, and burrs that latch onto our clothing and make it difficult to remove.
What weeds stick to clothing?
Those are called goosegrass, clivers, catchweed, sticky weed, robin-run-the-hedge, sticky willy, and grip grass. Goosegrass has small flowers covered in hooked hairs, which is why they easily stick to clothing. Unfortunately, contact with goosegrass can also cause a nasty rash known as contact dermatitis.
Do prickly seed heads stick to clothing?
The most common “prickly” seed heads that stick to clothing are those of the Beggarticks (Bidens) plant. These have small, round seed heads which attach to clothing and fur with their little hooked spines.
Does goosegrass stick to clothing?
Goosegrass is a common plant that can be found worldwide and is known for its ability to stick to clothing, hair, and other fabrics. Its spiky ball-shaped seeds have small hooks and barbs that cling to fabrics, making them difficult to remove.