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Urtica dioica
| Common name: |
Stinging Nettle |
Family: |
Urticaceae |
| Author: |
L. |
Botanical references: |
17, 200 |
| Synonyms: |
|
| Known Hazards: |
The leaves of the plants have stinging hairs, causing irritation to the skin[21, 200]. This action is neutralized by heat or by thorough drying, so the cooked leaves are perfectly safe and nutritious[200]. However, only young leaves should be used because older leaves develop gritty particles called cystoliths which act as an irritant to the kidneys[172]. |
| Range: |
Temperate regions throughout the world, including Britain. |
| Habitat: |
Waste ground, hedgerows, woods etc, preferring a rich soil and avoiding acid soils[4, 9]. |
| Edibility Rating (1-5): |
5 | Medicinal Rating (1-5): | 5 |
| Other Common Names: | From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below. |
| Bigstring Nettle [E], Common Nettle [L], Common Stinging Nettle [H], Gerrais [E], Greater Nettle [H], Grote Brandnetel [D], Isirgan [E], Kazink [E], Nabat Al Nar [E], Nettle [H], Nettle, Stinging [S], Nettle,Common [E], Ortiga Mayor [E], Stinging Nettle [P,S,B,FEIS,H,E,L], Stinging Nettles [S], |
| Epithets: | From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets |
|
dioica = dioecious (lit. 2 houses referring to male and female parts on different plants);
|
| Systematics: | From a USDA Plants Database |
|
Order: Urticales. Nettle family
|
| Other Range Info: |
From the Ethnobotany Database |
|
Britain; Canada(Kwakiutl); Canada(Nootka); Czechoslovakia; Europe; India; Iraq; Kurdistan; Spain; Turkey; Us; Us(Flathead); Ussr
|
| Noxious, Invasive and Injurious Weeds | From USDA PLANTS database, Weeds Australia
, DEFRA Injurious Weeds | | Listed as noxious/invasive for: USA Invasive. |
Physical Characteristics
Perennial growing to 1.2m by 1m at a fast rate. It is not frost tender. It is in leaf from March to November, in flower from May to October, and the seeds ripen from June to October. The flowers are dioecious (individual flowers are either male or female, but only one sex is to be found on any one plant so both male and female plants must be grown if seed is required) and are pollinated by Wind.
The plant not is self-fertile.
It is noted for attracting wildlife.
We rate it 5/5 for edibility and
5/5 for medicinal use.
The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils.
The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils.
It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade.
It requires moist soil.
The plant can tolerates strong winds but not maritime exposure.
Habitats and Possible Locations
Meadow, Hedgerow, Woodland, Sunny Edge, Dappled Shade, Shady Edge.Edible Uses
Colouring; Curdling agent; Drink; Leaves.
Young leaves - cooked as a potherb and added to soups etc[1, 2, 9, 12,
13, 36, 183]. They can also be dried for winter use[12]. Nettles are a very
valuable addition to the diet[244], they are a very nutritious food that is
easily digested and is high in minerals (especially iron) and vitamins
(especially A and C)[4, 201, 238]. Only use young leaves (see the notes above
on toxicity) and wear stout gloves when harvesting them to prevent being
stung. Cooking the leaves, or thoroughly drying them, neutralizes the sting,
rendering the leaf safe to eat[4, 244]. The young shoots, harvested in the
spring when 15 - 20cm long complete with the underground stem are very
nice[85]. Old leaves can be laxative[5].
The plants are harvested commercially for extraction of the chlorophyll,
which is used as a green colouring agent (E140) in foods and medicines[238].
A tea is made from the dried leaves, it is warming on a winters day[21,
183]. A bland flavour, it can be added as a tonic to China tea[238].
The juice of the leaves, or a decoction of the herb, can be used as a rennet
substitute in curdling plant milks[183].
Nettle beer is brewed from the young shoots[200].
Medicinal Uses
Disclaimer
Antiasthmatic; Antidandruff; Astringent; Diuretic; Galactogogue; Haemostatic; Hypoglycaemic; Stings; Tonic.
Nettles have a long history of use in the home as a herbal remedy and
nutritious addition to the diet[K]. A tea made from the leaves has
traditionally been used as a cleansing tonic and blood purifier so the plant
is often used in the treatment of hay fever, arthritis, anaemia etc[254].
The whole plant is antiasthmatic, antidandruff, astringent, depurative,
diuretic, galactogogue, haemostatic, hypoglycaemic and a stimulating tonic[4,
9, 21, 36, 165, 238]. An infusion of the plant is very valuable in stemming
internal bleeding[4], it is also used to treat anaemia, excessive
menstruation, haemorrhoids, arthritis, rheumatism and skin complaints,
especially eczema[238]. Externally, the plant is used to treat skin
complaints, arthritic pain, gout, sciatica, neuralgia, haemorrhoids, hair
problems etc[238].
The fresh leaves of nettles have been rubbed or beaten onto the skin in the
treatment of rheumatism etc[257]. This practice, called urtification, causes
intense irritation to the skin as it is stung by the nettles. It is believed
that this treatment works in two ways. Firstly, it acts as a
counter-irritant, bringing more blood to the area to help remove the toxins
that cause rheumatism. Secondly, the formic acid from the nettles is believed
to have a beneficial effect upon the rheumatic joints.
For medicinal purposes, the plant is best harvested in May or June as it is
coming into flower and dried for later use[4, 238].
This species merits further study for possible uses against kidney and
urinary system ailments[222].
The juice of the nettle can be used as an antidote to stings from the leaves
and an infusion of the fresh leaves is healing and soothing as a lotion for
burns[4].
The root has been shown to have a beneficial effect upon enlarged prostate
glands[254].
A homeopathic remedy is made from the leaves[4]. It is used in the treatment
of rheumatic gout, nettle rash and chickenpox, externally is applied to
bruises[4]. We have a more details factsheet on the history and medicinal use of this plant. Email webmaster@pfaf.org for details.
Other Uses
Biomass; Compost; Dye; Fibre; Hair; Liquid feed; Oil; Repellent; Waterproofing.
A strong flax-like fibre is obtained from the stems[200]. Used for
making string and cloth[1, 4, 6, 13, 36], it also makes a good quality
paper[115]. It is harvested as the plant begins to die down in early autumn
and is retted before the fibres are extracted[4, 99]. The fibre is produced
in less abundance than from flax (Linun usitatissimum) and is also more
difficult to extract[4].
The plant matter left over after the fibres have been extracted are a good
source of biomass and have been used in the manufacture of sugar, starch,
protein and ethyl alcohol[4].
An oil obtained from the seeds is used as an illuminant[4].
An essential ingredient of 'QR' herbal compost activator[32]. This is a
dried and powdered mixture of several herbs that can be added to a compost
heap in order to speed up bacterial activity and thus shorten the time needed
to make the compost[K]. The leaves are also an excellent addition to the
compost heap[12, 18, 20] and they can be soaked for 7 - 21 days in water to
make a very nutritious liquid feed for plants[54]. This liquid feed is both
insect repellent and a good foliar feed[14, 18, 53].
The growing plant increases the essential oil content of other nearby
plants, thus making them more resistant to insect pests[18, 20, 54].
Although many different species of insects feed on nettles, flies are
repelled by the plant so a bunch of freshly cut stems has been used as a
repellent in food cupboards[4].
The juice of the plant, or a decoction formed by boiling the herb in a
strong solution of salt, will curdle milks and thus acts as a rennet
substitute[4]. This same juice, if rubbed into small seams of leaky wooden
tubs, will coagulate and make the tub watertight again[4].
A hair wash is made from the infused leaves and this is used as a tonic and
antidandruff treatment[172, 201].
A beautiful and permanent green dye is obtained from a decoction of the
leaves and stems[4, 115].
A yellow dye is obtained from the root when boiled with alum[4, 115].
Cultivation details
Prefers a soil rich in phosphates and nitrogen. Plants must be grown in
a deep rich soil if good quality fibre is required[4, 115].
Nettles are one of the most undervalued of economic plants. They have a wide
range of uses, for food, medicines, fibres etc and are also a very important
plant for wildlife. There are at least 30 species of insects that feed on it
and the caterpillars of several lepidoptera species are dependant upon it for
food[30]. Especially when growing in rich soils, the plant can spread
vigorously and is very difficult to eradicate. It is said that cutting the
plant down three times a year for three years will kill it[4]. It is a good
companion plant to grow in the orchard and amongst soft fruit[53, 54]. So
long as it is not allowed to totally over-run the plants, it seems to improve
the health of soft fruit that grows nearby and also to protect the fruit from
birds, but it makes harvesting very difficult.
Dioecious. Male and female plants must be grown if seed is required.
Propagation
Seed - sow spring in a cold frame, only just covering the seed. Prick
out the seedlings into individual pots when they are large enough to handle,
and plant them out in the summer.
Division succeeds at almost any time in the growing season. Very easy, plant
them straight out into their permanent positions.
Suppliers
For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.
PFAF Web Pages
This plant is mentioned in the following web pages
Web References
- Details of Medicinal Uses, Habitats, etc. in M. Grieve A Modern Herbal (1931) [4]
- [H] Details of Scandanavian and European Common names in Henriette's names database
- [L] Scientific and Common Names (some photos)
from Lepidoptera and some other life forms
- [E] Ethnobotany Data
(common names, uses, countries) from the Ethnobotany Database.
- [V] Images
from the Vascular Plant Image Gallery of the Texas A&M Bioinformatics Working Group.
- [B] Data
(Latin & Common names, other references) from the BONAP's Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
- [S] Image
from the Southwest School of Botanical Medicine
- [S] Image
from the Southwest School of Botanical Medicine
- [S] Image
from the Southwest School of Botanical Medicine
- [S] SW USA Dist. Maps
from the Southwest School of Botanical Medicine
- [PHARM] Phytochemical Data
(common names, uses, countries) from Dr Duke's Phytochemical Database.
- [G] Data
(Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
- [P] Data.
(uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
- [FEIS] Data
(Uses, Ecology, Fire Effects) from the USDA Forestry Service Fire Effects Information System.
- [HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database
- [R] Rainforest medicinal Data
(common names, medicinal uses, images) from the Rain-Tree.
References for urtica dioica (a possible synonym).
See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.
Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.
[K] Ken Fern
Notes from observations, tasting etc at Plants For A Future and on field trips.
[1] F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Oxford University Press 1951
Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaces in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [200]).
[2] Hedrick. U. P. Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. Dover Publications 1972 ISBN 0-486-20459-6
Lots of entries, quite a lot of information in most entries and references.
[4] Grieve. A Modern Herbal. Penguin 1984 ISBN 0-14-046-440-9
Not so modern (1930's?) but lots of information, mainly temperate plants.
[5] Mabey. R. Food for Free. Collins 1974 ISBN 0-00-219060-5
Edible wild plants found in Britain. Fairly comprehensive, very few pictures and rather optimistic on the desirability of some of the plants.
[6] Mabey. R. Plants with a Purpose. Fontana 1979 ISBN 0-00-635555-2
Details on some of the useful wild plants of Britain. Poor on pictures but otherwise very good.
[9] Launert. E. Edible and Medicinal Plants. Hamlyn 1981 ISBN 0-600-37216-2
Covers plants in Europe. a drawing of each plant, quite a bit of interesting information.
[12] Loewenfeld. C. and Back. P. Britain's Wild Larder. David and Charles ISBN 0-7153-7971-2
A handy pocket guide.
[13] Triska. Dr. Hamlyn Encyclopaedia of Plants. Hamlyn 1975 ISBN 0-600-33545-3
Very interesting reading, giving some details of plant uses and quite a lot of folk-lore.
[14] Holtom. J. and Hylton. W. Complete Guide to Herbs. Rodale Press 1979 ISBN 0-87857-262-7
A good herbal.
[17] Clapham, Tootin and Warburg. Flora of the British Isles. Cambridge University Press 1962
A very comprehensive flora, the standard reference book but it has no pictures.
[18] Philbrick H. and Gregg R. B. Companion Plants. Watkins 1979
Details of beneficial and antagonistic relationships between neighbouring plants.
[20] Riotte. L. Companion Planting for Successful Gardening. Garden Way, Vermont, USA. 1978 ISBN 0-88266-064-0
Fairly good.
[21] Lust. J. The Herb Book. Bantam books 1983 ISBN 0-553-23827-2
Lots of information tightly crammed into a fairly small book.
[30] Carter D. Butterflies and Moths in Britain and Europe. Pan 1982 ISBN 0-330-26642-x
An excellent book on Lepidoptera, it also lists their favourite food plants.
[32] Bruce. M. E. Commonsense Compost Making. Faber 1977 ISBN 0-571-09990-4
Excellent little booklet dealing with how to make compost by using herbs to activate the heap. Gives full details of the herbs that are used.
[36] The Herb Society Herbal Review. Vol.11. 3. The Herb Society 1986 ISBN 0264-9853
A very interesting article on the stinging nettle, Urtica dioica, giving a lot of information on its uses. Also details on Tanacetum parthenifolium and Melaleuca alternifolium.
[53] De. Bray. L. The Wild Garden.
Interesting reading.
[54] Hatfield. A. W. How to Enjoy your Weeds. Frederick Muller Ltd 1977 ISBN 0-584-10141-4
Interesting reading.
[85] Harrington. H. D. Edible Native Plants of the Rocky Mountains. University of New Mexico Press 1967 ISBN 0-8623-0343-9
A superb book. Very readable, it gives the results of the authors experiments with native edible plants.
[99] Turner. N. J. Plants in British Columbian Indian Technology. British Columbia Provincial Museum 1979 ISBN 0-7718-8117-7
Excellent and readable guide.
[115] Johnson. C. P. The Useful Plants of Great Britain.
Written about a hundred years ago, but still a very good guide to the useful plants of Britain.
[165] Mills. S. Y. The Dictionary of Modern Herbalism.
An excellent small herbal.
[172] Schofield. J. J. Discovering Wild Plants - Alaska, W. Canada and the Northwest.
A nice guide to some useful plants in that area.
[183] Facciola. S. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications 1990 ISBN 0-9628087-0-9
Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.
[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.
[201] Allardice.P. A - Z of Companion Planting. Cassell Publishers Ltd. 1993 ISBN 0-304-34324-2
A well produced and very readable book.
[222] Foster. S. & Duke. J. A. A Field Guide to Medicinal Plants. Eastern and Central N. America. Houghton Mifflin Co. 1990 ISBN 0395467225
A concise book dealing with almost 500 species. A line drawing of each plant is included plus colour photographs of about 100 species. Very good as a field guide, it only gives brief details about the plants medicinal properties.
[238] Bown. D. Encyclopaedia of Herbs and their Uses. Dorling Kindersley, London. 1995 ISBN 0-7513-020-31
A very well presented and informative book on herbs from around the globe. Plenty in it for both the casual reader and the serious student. Just one main quibble is the silly way of having two separate entries for each plant.
[244] Phillips. R. & Foy. N. Herbs Pan Books Ltd. London. 1990 ISBN 0-330-30725-8
Deals with all types of herbs including medicinal, culinary, scented and dye plants. Excellent photographs with quite good information on each plant.
[254] Chevallier. A. The Encyclopedia of Medicinal Plants Dorling Kindersley. London 1996 ISBN 9-780751-303148
An excellent guide to over 500 of the more well known medicinal herbs from around the world.
[257] Moerman. D. Native American Ethnobotany Timber Press. Oregon. 1998 ISBN 0-88192-453-9
Very comprehensive but terse guide to the native uses of plants. Excellent bibliography, fully referenced to each plant, giving a pathway to further information. Not for the casual reader.
Readers Comments
Plant Rennet
Rich
(pfaf@scs.leeds.ac.uk)
Sat Apr 15 16:59:27
2000
According to
VegSoc,
in the past,
fig leaves, melon, wild thistle and safflower have all supplied plant
rennets for cheese making.
agsieve
also has
information about another plant source, using the juice from the
plant as a coagulant.
Cross references:
Plants:
Asclepias eriocarpa,
Carduus nutans,
Carthamnus tinctorius,
Cirsium arvense,
Cirsium vulgare,
Cynara cardunculus,
Cynara scolymus,
Drosera rotundifolia,
Ficus carica,
Galega officinalis,
Galium verum,
Fumaria officinalis,
Oxalis acetosella,
Pinguicula vulgaris,
Pyrularia edulis ,
Rhus chinensis,
Rumex acetosa,
Withania somnifera.
Main Search Page
Bibliography
Plant information taken from the
Plants For A Future -
Species Database.
Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
WEB search engine by Rich Morris - Home Page- Contact Info
Blagdon Cross, Ashwater, Beaworthy, Devon, EX21 5DF, UK.
Website: www.pfaf.org Phone: 0845 458 4719/_44(0) 1208 872963 This page (UK) http://www.comp.leeds.ac.uk/cgi-bin/pfaf/arr_html?Urtica+dioica
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