stinging nettle - Uses

A perennial with creeping rhizomes (Urtica dioica) often forming large patches, native or introduced throughout temperate regions; leaves heart-shaped, toothed; flowers tiny, green, in drooping spikes; males and females on separate plants. The whole plant is covered in stinging hairs acting like hypodermic syringes, each with a bulbous base containing acid, and a brittle, needle-like tip. When touched, the tip pierces the skin and breaks off, while pressure on the base injects acid, causing a sting and subsequent rash. Wilting or cooking removes the ability to sting. The leaves are used as a vegetable and for tea; the stems yield tough fibres for cloth. (Family: Urticaceae.)

iStinging nettle
Urtica dioica subsp. dioica
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae Division: Magnoliophyta Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Rosales Family: Urticaceae Genus: Urtica Species: U. dioica
Binomial name
Urtica dioica L.

The stinging nettle (Urtica dioica) is a herbaceous flowering plant native to Europe, Asia, northern Africa, and North America, and is the best known member of the nettle genus Urtica.

The taxonomy of stinging nettles in the genus Urtica has been confused, and older sources are likely to use a variety of systematic names for these plants. dioica (European stinging nettle). gracilis (Ait.) Selander (American stinging nettle). holosericea (Nutt.) Thorne (hairy nettle). Other vernacular names include tall nettle, slender nettle, California nettle, jaggy nettle, burning weed, and bull nettle (a name shared by Cnidoscolus texanus and Solanum carolinense). Bare skin brushing up against a stinging nettle plant will break the delicate defensive hairs and release the trio of chemicals, usually resulting in a temporary and painful skin rash similar to poison ivy, though the nettle's rash and duration are much weaker. However, in North America, the stinging nettle is markedly less common than in northern Europe. Sites of long abandoned buidings can often be deduced from the presence of nettles.

Uses

Despite its sting, it has many uses. Then The leaves can also be dried and used to make a tisane, as can be done with the nettle's flowers.

Nettle stems contain a bast fibre which has been traditionally used for the same purposes as linen, and is produced by a similar retting process. Nettles can also be used as cattle fodder; cows appear to find harvested nettles a delicacy.

Home remedies

Several folk remedies exist for the sting, with disputed effectiveness. One is to treat the affected part with juice from the crushed leaf of dock (Rumex spp.), which commonly grows in association with nettles.

Influence on language and culture

In England the stinging nettle is the only common stinging plant, and has found a place in several figures of speech in the English language. To "nettle" someone is to annoy them. Shakespeare's Hotspur urges that "out of this nettle, danger, we grasp this flower, safety" (Henry IV, part 1, Act II Scene 3). The common figure of speech "to grasp the nettle" probably originated as a condensation of this quotation. The metaphor refers to the fact that if a nettle leaf is grasped firmly rather than brushed against, it does not sting so readily, because the hairs are crushed down flat and do not penetrate the skin so easily. However the sting of nettles has been recommended to relieve the pain of rheumatism as the effects of the sting can last up to twelve hours.