In Vendée, a little boy, Paul Guillet, is abandoned by his mother who places him in public assistance. He will go from host family to host family, these various experiences gradually shaping his personality. Graine d'ortie is a French television series in twenty-six thirteen-minute episodes, broadcast from June 1, 1973 on the first ORTF channel. It is also the title of the autobiographical novel by Paul Wagner from which the television series is inspired. In Quebec, it was broadcast from September 1, 1974 on Télévision de Radio-Canada, and rebroadcast from December 14, 1986 on TVJQ.