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Laportea canadensis (L.) Weddell

Wood nettle

KingdomPlantaePlants, but not fungi, lichens, or algae
SubkingdomTracheobiontaVascular plants—plants with a “circulatory system” for delivering water and nutrients
DivisionMagnoliophytaFlowering plants, also known as angiosperms
ClassMagnoliopsidaDicotyledons—plants with two initial seed leaves
SubclassRosidaeRoses, legumes, proteas, dogwoods, hydrangeas, mistletoes, euphorbias, grapes, many more
OrderUrticalesIncludes cannabis, nettles, mulberries, elms, others
FamilyUrticaceaeNettle family
GenusLaporteaFor Francois L. de Laporte, Count of Castelnau, Entomologist of the 19th century
Speciescanadensis“Of or referring to Canada”

About plant names...

Wood nettle is native to North America.

Plants: 2-4′ (60-121 cm) high, found in moist woods. Their stems have stiff white hairs that sting if you rub against them, producing a rash and a strong burning sensation that usually lasts about an hour.

Leaves: Alternate, up to 4″ (10 cm) × 6″ (15 cm), egg-shaped, with coarse serrations.

Flowers: Male flower clusters are white or greenish white, in loose branching clusters. Each flower is less than ⅛″ (3.2 mm) across, with 5 petals. They appear from July to Sep­tember.

Fruits: Oblique dry seeds.

Edibility: Plants require careful handlings, but the young leaves are edible, nutritious, and delicious, like spinach. Cooking destroys the small stinging barbs on the leaves, but use gloves when harvesting the plants. Boiling doesn't work well, but steaming produces good results.

 

Laportea canadensis (wood nettle)

7/18/2017 · Tobyhanna State Park, Penn­syl­vania · ≈ 7 × 4½″ (18 × 12 cm)

Laportea canadensis (wood nettle)

7/18/2017 · Tobyhanna State Park, Penn­syl­vania · ≈ 8 × 5″ (20 × 13 cm)

Laportea canadensis (wood nettle)

7/18/2017 · Tobyhanna State Park, Penn­syl­vania · ≈ 7 × 4½″ (18 × 12 cm)

See this article by Steve Brill on distinguishing among nettles and related plants. Here are some similar species:
  You are here
Laportea canadensis

Boehmeria cylindrica

Acalypha rhomboidea
Common Name

wood nettle

false nettle

three-seeded mercury
Plant 2-4′ (60-121 cm) high. Stems have stiff white hairs that sting if you rub against them. 4-63″ (10-160 cm) high, and favor shady wooded areas. Stems are smooth, without the irritating hairs of stinging nettle. 6-24″ (15-60 cm) tall, with a stem that is hairless or covered with fine white hairs. Bracts beneath flowers, stems, and leaf undersides turn copper-colored.
Flowers Male flower clusters are white or greenish white, in loose branching clusters. Each flower is less than ⅛″ (3.2 mm) across, with 5 petals. They appear from July to September. Flowers occur on straight spikes that emerge from the stem, in clusters of small, inconspicuous green flowers. Each spike is often tipped by a couple of small leaves. Flowers appear from July to August. Flowers are greenish-tan, and tiny—less than ⅛″ (3.2 mm) across. They flower from July to October.
Leaves Alternate, up to 4″ (10 cm) × 6″ (15 cm), egg-shaped, with coarse serrations. Usually opposite or nearly so. They are roughly egg-shaped, with sharp tips and teeth. (More precisely, they are elliptic, lanceolate to broadly ovate.) The leaves are 1¾-7″ (5-18 cm) × ¾-4″ (2-10 cm). Leaves are alternate, lance-like or oval with sharp tips, 3½″ (8.9 cm) × 1″ (2.5 cm), with blunt serrations.
Fruit Oblique dry seeds. Spiky little balls. A 3-lobed roughly spherical fruit containing 3 seeds.
Range/ Zones

Habitats Moist woods, streambanks, in rich soils Moist, deciduous woods; wet meadows; swamps, bogs, and mashes Open woods, moist soils, gravel bars, waste ground, roadsides, railroads.
Type Wild Wild Wild

 

 
Urtica dioica ssp. gracilis

Pilea pumila
Common Name

stinging nettle

clearweed
Plant 2-3′ (60-100 cm) high, rarely up to twice that. The entire plant is covered in stinging hairs. 6-24″ (15-60 cm) high, with smooth, round, translucent stems. They do not have stinging hairs.
Flowers Plants are monoecious—male staminate flowers appear on the same plants as female pistillate flowers. Male flowers are grayish yellow, with four tepals. Female flowers have four tepals too, but in different-sized pairs. They are gray-green and hairy. The flower clusters resemble catkins. Both male and female flowers are on each plant. Fowers are ⅛″ (3.2 mm) long, greenish-white or greenish-yellow, hanging in narrow bunches from the axils of the upper leaves.
Leaves Opposite, oblong, cordate, and serrate (with sawtooth edges). They are 1-6″ (3-15 cm) long. Leaves occur in opposite pairs, each 1-5″ (2.5-12 cm) long by ½-2½″ (1.3-6.3 cm) wide. Leaves are oval-shaped and coarse-toothed, with three prominent veins and textured leaves. The leaves are bright green, usually shiny, and become yellow in the fall.
Fruit Each inner pair of tepals encloses a single deltoid to ovoid seed. Tiny green seeds (achenes) sometimes have black stripes.
Range/ Zones

Habitats River deltas, floodplains, margins of deciduous woodlands, fencerows, and waste places Wet upland or floodplain forests, crevices in rocky canyons, and shady wetlands, streambanks.
Type Wild Wild

 

Online References:

Missouriplants.com

Illinois Wildflowers

Plants for a Future, a resource and information centre for edible and otherwise useful plants

Minnesota Wildflowers

Www.wildmanstevebrill.com (Nettles and related plants)

The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center

The University of Wisconsin's Robert W. Freckmann Herbarium

EFloras

References:

Newcomb, Lawrence, Morrison, Gordon (Illus.), Newcomb’s Wildflower Guide, Little, Brown and Company, 1977, p. 416

Laportea canadensis (wood nettle)

7/18/2017 · Tobyhanna State Park, Penn­syl­vania · ≈ 10 × 6″ (24 × 16 cm)

Laportea canadensis (wood nettle)

7/18/2017 · Tobyhanna State Park, Penn­syl­vania · ≈ 6 × 4″ (16 × 11 cm)

Urtica canadensis L.

Urticastrum divaricatum (L.) Kuntze

 

Laportea canadensis description by Thomas H. Kent, last updated 16 Sep 2020.

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Laportea canadensis (wood nettle)

7/18/2017 · Tobyhanna State Park, Penn­syl­vania · ≈ 5 × 8″ (13 × 20 cm)

Laportea canadensis (wood nettle)

7/18/2017 · Tobyhanna State Park, Penn­syl­vania · ≈ 6 × 4″ (15 × 10 cm)

Range:

About this map...