great stinging nettle
Urtica dioica
The stinging hairs act like tiny glass hypodermic needles; their fragile silica tips break off upon the slightest contact, instantly injecting a stinging chemical cocktail.
- Scientific name
- Urtica dioica
- Taxonomy
- Plantae › Tracheophyta › Magnoliopsida › Rosales › Urticaceae › Urtica
- IUCN Red List status
- Least Concern
- Population trend
- stable
- Biome
- forest
- Habitat
- Moist, nitrogen-rich soils in deciduous forests, riverbanks, meadows, and disturbed ground.
- Diet
- Autotrophic (photosynthetic, drawing nitrogen and minerals from rich soils).
- Range
- North America, Europe, Asia, Northern Africa
- Size
- 1 to 2 meters (3 to 7 feet) tall.
- Lifespan
- Perennial (underground rhizomes can survive for decades).
- Active
- diurnal
- Threats
- Highly resilient with no major threats; occasionally cleared as an agricultural weed.
- Safe to approach?
- Defensive. Avoid touching bare skin to the leaves or stems, which are covered in hollow, silica-tipped stinging hairs. If stung, avoid scratching to prevent spreading the irritating toxins (formic acid and histamine). Wash the area with soap and water, or apply a soothing paste of baking soda or crushed dock leaves (Rumex) which often grow nearby. Seek medical attention only if a rare, severe allergic reaction occurs.
Urtica dioica , often called common nettle , stinging nettle (although not all plants of this species sting) or nettle leaf , is a herbaceous perennial flowering plant in the family Urticaceae. It is native to Europe, Asia, northern Africa, and western North America, and introduced elsewhere. The species is divided into six subspecies, five of which have many hollow stinging hairs called trichomes on the leaves and stems, which act like hypodermic needles, injecting histamine and other chemicals...
Photo: Kathy Daniel, CC0, via iNaturalist
Plain-text version: /species/29ea5472-9ac0-44fc-baaf-0b26b4b200b9.md