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Nettle
Stinging nettle (Urtica dioica)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Division:	Magnoliophyta
Class:	Magnoliopsida
Order:	Urticales
Family:	Urticaceae
Genus:	Urtica L., 1753
Species
U. angustifolia U. ardens U. atrichocaulis U. atrovirens U. cannabina U. chamaedryoides U. dioica U. dubia Urtica ferox U. fissa U. galeopsifolia U. gracilenta U. hyperborea U. incisa U. kioviensis U. laetivirens U. linearifolia U. mairei U. membranacea U. morifolia U. parviflora U. pilulifera U. platyphylla U. pubescens U. rupestris U. sondenii U. taiwaniana U. thunbergiana U. triangularisa U. urens

detail of flowering stinging nettle.

Nettle is the common name for between 30-45 species of flowering plants of the genus Urtica in the family Urticaceae, with a cosmopolitan though mainly temperate distribution. They are mostly herbaceous perennial plants, but some are annual and a few are shrubby.

The most prominent member of the genus is the stinging nettle Urtica dioica,^{[citation needed]} native to Europe, Africa, Asia, and North America. The genus also contains a number of other species with similar properties, listed below. However, a large number of species names that will be encountered in this genus in the older literature (about 100 species have been described) are now recognized as synonyms of Urtica dioica. Some of these taxa are still recognized as subspecies.

Most of the species listed below share the property of having stinging hairs, and might be expected to have similar medicinal uses to the stinging nettle. The stings of Urtica ferox, the ongaonga or tree nettle of New Zealand, have been known to kill horses, dogs and at least one wasp.^[1]

The nature of the toxin secreted by nettles is not settled. The stinging hairs of most nettle species contain formic acid, serotonin and histamine; however recent studies of Urtica thunbergiana implicate oxalic acid and tartaric acid rather than any of those substances, at least in that species.^[2]

Species of nettle

Species in the genus Urtica, and their primary natural ranges, include:

• Urtica angustifolia Fisch. ex Hornem. 1819. China, Japan, Korea.
• Urtica ardens. China.
• Urtica atrichocaulis. Himalaya, southwestern China.
• Urtica atrovirens. Western Mediterranean region.
• Urtica cannabina L. 1753. Western Asia from Siberia to Iran.
• Urtica chamaedryoides (heartleaf nettle). Southeastern North America.
• Urtica dioica L. 1753 (stinging nettle or bull nettle). Europe, Asia, North America.
• Urtica dubia (large-leaved nettle). Canada.
• Urtica ferox (ongaonga or tree nettle). New Zealand.
• Urtica fissa. China.
• Urtica galeopsifolia Wierzb. ex Opiz, 1825, (fen nettle or stingless nettle). Europe. (Often considered a subspecies of Urtica dioica.)
• Urtica gracilenta (mountain nettle). Arizona, New Mexico, west Texas, northern Mexico.
• Urtica hyperborea. Himalaya from Pakistan to Bhutan, Mongolia and Tibet, high altitudes.
• Urtica incisa (scrub nettle). Australia.
• Urtica kioviensis Rogow. 1843. Eastern Europe.
• Urtica laetivirens Maxim. 1877. Japan, Manchuria.
• Urtica linearifolia. Creeping or Swamp Nettle. New Zealand.
• Urtica mairei. Himalaya, southwestern China, northeastern India, Myanmar.
• Urtica membranacea. Mediterranean region, Azores.
• Urtica morifolia. Canary Islands (endemic).
• Urtica parviflora. Himalaya (lower altitudes).
• Urtica pilulifera (Roman nettle). Southern Europe.
• Urtica platyphylla Wedd. 1856-1857. China, Japan.
• Urtica pubescens Ledeb. 1833. Southwestern Russia east to central Asia.
• Urtica rupestris. Sicily (endemic).
• Urtica sondenii (Simmons) Avrorin ex Geltman, 1988. Northeastern Europe, northern Asia.
• Urtica taiwaniana. Taiwan.
• Urtica thunbergiana. Japan, Taiwan.
• Urtica triangularisa
• Urtica urens L. 1753 (dwarf nettle or annual nettle). Europe, North America.

The family Urticaceae also contains some other plants called nettles that are not members of the genus Urtica. These include the wood nettle Laportea canadensis, found in eastern North America from Nova Scotia to Florida, and the false nettle Boehmeria cylindrica, found in most of the United States east of the Rockies. As its name implies, the false nettle does not sting.

Uses and medical properties of nettles

Much historical evidence of use of nettles in medicine, folk remedies, cooking and fiber production relate to one species - Urtica dioica, but a fair amount also refers to the use of Urtica urens, the small nettle, which is preferred because it has more stinging hairs per leaf area than the more common species.^{[citation needed]} It may be inappropriate and probably inaccurate to assume that all nettles exhibit similar properties in all cases, but where an action can be attributed to principles found in the species, such as histamine, choline, formic acid and silica, a rational basis for their use is still available.^{[citation needed]} However, the fact that a medical action can be attributed to a single constituent does not imply that the entire plant will have the same action.

Safety

Though the fresh leaves can cause painful stings and acute urticaria, these are rarely seriously harmful, with the possible exception of Urtica ferox, the ongaonga or tree nettle of New Zealand. Otherwise most species of nettles are extremely safe and some are even eaten as vegetables after being steamed.^[3]

Similar stinging plants

Close-up detail of the stinging hairs.

Other members of other genera in the Urticaceae, with powerful stings:

• Giant stinging tree (Dendrocnide excelsa)
• Gympie (Dendrocnide moroides )
• Wood Nettle (Laportea canadensis )
• Nettle Tree (Urera baccifera )

There are also plants which can produce stinging sensations but which are unrelated to the Urticaceae:^[4]

• Dumb cane (Dieffenbachia spp., Araceae)
• Cowhage (Mucuna pruriens, Fabaceae)
• Bull Nettle or Spurge Nettle (Cnidoscolus stimulosus, Euphorbiaceae)
• Ciega-vista (Croton ciliato-glandulosus, Euphorbiaceae)
• Stinging Spurge (Jatropha urens L., Euphorbiaceae)
• Noseburn (Tragia spp., Euphorbiaceae)
• Nilgiri Nettle (Girardinia leschenaultiana)

Similarly named plants

Plants with common names include the word "nettle" but which do not sting nor are they part of Urticacea':

• Dead-nettle (Lamium spp.) and hedge-nettle (Stachys spp.) which are in the Lamiaceae or mint family.
• Devil's nettle, which is another name for yarrow.
• Carolina horsenettle (Solanum carolinense) in the Solanaceae.
• Spurge-nettle (Cnidolscolus stimulosus) in the Euphorbiaceae.

See also

• Mopiko, a nettle rash cream
• Rumex, Dock leaves for sting easement and nullification of longer term effects
• Poison oak, Poison ivy, Poison sumac

Footnotes

References

External links

• Flora Europaea: Urtica from the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh website
• Flora of North America: Urtica from efloras.org
• Flora of China: Urtica from efloras.org
• Database search for Nettle from Plants for a Future
• Urtica from the HerbalGram and American Botanical Council website

From LoveToKnow 1911

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From BibleWiki

1. Heb. haral, "pricking" or "burning," Prov 24:30ff (R.V. marg., "wild vetches"); Job 30:7; Zeph 2:9. Many have supposed that some thorny or prickly plant is intended by this word, such as the bramble, the thistle, the wild plum, the cactus or prickly pear, etc. It may probably be a species of mustard, the Sinapis arvensis, which is a pernicious weed abounding in corn-fields. Tristram thinks that this word "designates the prickly acanthus (Acanthus spinosus), a very common and troublesome weed in the plains of Palestine."
2. Heb. qimmosh, Isa 34:13; Hos 9:6; Prov 24:31 (in both versions, "thorns"). This word has been regarded as denoting thorns, thistles, wild camomile; but probably it is correctly rendered "nettle," the Urtica pilulifera, "a tall and vigorous plant, often 6 feet high, the sting of which is much more severe and irritating than that of our common nettle."

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