Traditional Uses and Benefits of the Stinging Nettle
Stinging Nettle, Urtica dioica If you have ever had an accidental encounter with stinging nettle, you will never forget it. The plant is well named. Learn to recognize it and avoid it unless you need it. Stinging nettle is a perennial, growing between 3 to 7 feet tall. It is dioecious and herbaceous, dying back in the winter. I It grows from bright yellow, widely spreading rhizomes and stolons. The leaves are opposite, mostly oval or occasionally heart-shaped. The soft, green leaves are 1 to 6 inches long and are arranged oppositely on an erect stem. The leaves have a serrated margin and cordate base. Both the leaves and stems are very hairy with non-stinging hairs and many stinging hairs. Numerous flowers appear June to September in dense axillary inflorescences. They are greenish or brownish, growing in branched clusters. Male and female flowers grow on separate plants or branches. Edible Use The leaves are edible. Stinging nettles have a flavor similar to spinachand cucumber when co...