After planting 25 tulip bulbs (only a third of this year's order from White Flower Farm) in the garden, I came back inside and noticed dozens of small black spears, maybe an inch long, sticking out of my fleece vest, as if I were a pin cushion or a voodoo doll.
I did some online research and found that the spikes were from the cranesbill (a hardy geranium) that's been growing in the garden for many years. I quote from Rob's Plants website:
"The cranesbill for which the plants are named describes the shape of the spikes extending from the fruiting bodies left behind when flowers fade. The seeds are formed in the puffy part at the bottom of the fruiting body. The problem is that the whole assembly was manufactured to serve as a catapult. When ripe, the seeds are flung out of their dry hull using the spring force of connective tissue that runs along the spikey bit (this is not a botanically correct description, by the way)."
As I discovered when trying to remove the hulls from my vest, not only are they sharply pointed but they also have a rough coating, which makes them even more adherent.
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