Taxonomy of Stinging Nettles:
Plant taxonomy classifies the stinging nettles with which I deal here as
Urtica dioica.
Plant Type for Stinging Nettles:
Identification of Stinging Nettles:
Although they can reach greater heights, stinging nettles generally grow about 3-4 feet high. They also often grow in masses, forming a
monoculture. If you see a group of such plants (see photo above right), look for those noxious bristly hairs along the stems of stinging nettles and on the undersides of their leaves. Stinging nettles spread via
rhizomes.
Weed Control for Stinging Nettles:
Try to dig out stinging nettles before they've had a chance to establish themselves. Failing that, HDRA Organic Weed Management still offers hope for organic eradication, noting, "Repeated hoeing will exhaust the rootstocks eventually. Seedlings may be destroyed by frequent surface cultivations in spring and autumn. Common nettle cannot tolerate regular cultivations at rhizome depth. The shallow creeping rhizome does not regenerate well after repeated fragmentation." By contrast, such an approach is useless at best, and counter-productive at worst, in attempts to control another rhizomatous menace,
Japanese knotweed.
Where Stinging Nettles Grow:
Stinging nettles are found in disturbed soils and can be encountered on roadsides. But because they prefer nitrogen-rich soils, their favorite habitat is garden borders. The Ohio Perennial and Biennial Weed Guide speaks of two varieties (which are very similar to each other), one a North American native, the other
indigenous to Europe.
Why Stinging Nettles Burn -- And a Home Remedy:
Of stinging nettles' capacity to cause skin irritation, the Ohio Perennial and Biennial Weed Guide remarks, "Toxins thought to be involved include formic acid (also found in ants), histamine, acetylcholine and 5-hydroxytryptamine." A weed that often grows near, stinging nettles,
yellow dock, can be used as a home remedy to counteract their toxicity. I would describe the symptoms resulting from an encounter with stinging nettles as mainly a burning sensation just after contact, followed by an itchy rash.
Stinging Nettles Not the Same as "Deadnettle":
Medicinal and Culinary Uses for Stinging Nettles:
Stinging nettles have long been used for medicinal purposes, including as a treatment for
hay fever. Aficionados of
edible weeds harvest the
young leaves from stinging nettles and boil them, which renders the leaves edible. I emphasize "young" because the barbs haven't had time yet to develop on young leaves. Not only will they not sting your mouth once cooked sufficiently, but young stinging nettle leaves are also quite nutritious.
Origin of the Names, "Stinging Nettles," "Urtica Dioica":
The genus name for stinging nettles, Urtica, comes from the Latin root for "burn" -- a reference to the burning skin irritation caused by contact with stinging nettles. The species name, dioica, meanwhile, is from the Greek for "two houses" and refers to the fact that male and female flowers appear on separate stinging nettle plants; other so-called "dioecious" plants include winterberry shrub.
As for the origin of the common name, "stinging nettles," the foregoing explains the first half of the name. The origin of the second half, "nettles," is explained by the term's Indo-European root, ned, meaning to "bind" or "tie." For besides culinary and medicinal uses, another of the ancient uses to which nettles were put was as a source of fiber for clothing and rope.
