Hackelia virginiana aka Beggar's Lice

Hackelia virginiana is a plant that bears flowers. It belongs to the Boraginaceae family. Its common name is beggar's lice. Kew's World Checklist of Vascular Plants gives its native range. It places that range in the southeastern United States. The range record gives no more detail within that region. It does not narrow the range to named places. That leaves the broad region as the only range detail here.

Chicago Botanic Garden lists the plant as a perennial. This means it lives through more than one growing season. The garden also lists its form as upright. Its profile does not say how tall it grows. Nor does it say how wide a full-grown plant spreads. It gives no details about the leaves or stems. The profile also gives no facts about the fruit. These gaps limit what it tells us about the plant's form.

The flowers are white. Chicago Botanic Garden lists July and August as bloom months. It then lists September and October as bloom months too. The record thus places bloom from summer into autumn. It gives no details about the shape of the flowers. It does not say whether they have a scent. Nor does it name insects that visit the blooms. White is the only flower trait that the source describes.

For care, the garden lists part shade and moist soil. These are the clearest facts it gives about growing needs. The light guidance calls for shade during part of the time. The soil guidance calls for soil that stays moist. The profile is an archived record. The garden no longer updates it. Its hardiness entry gives no usable zone details. It therefore does not supply a zone to guide planting.

The evidence gives no basis for claims about food use. It does not establish whether people can eat this plant. Nor does it support claims about toxicity. That gap does not show that the plant is safe. The evidence also gives no basis for claims about pests. It does not establish how well the plant resists disease. The supplied facts leave each of these points open.