Urtica dioica ssp. gracilis (Stinging nettle)

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Urtica dioica L. ssp. gracilis (Aiton) Seland.

Stinging nettle, common nettle

Kingdom	Plantae	Plants, but not fungi, lichens, or algae
Subkingdom	Tracheobionta	Vascular plants—plants with a “circulatory system” for delivering water and nutrients
Division	Magnoliophyta	Flowering plants, also known as angiosperms
Class	Magnoliopsida	Dicotyledons—plants with two initial seed leaves
Subclass	Rosidae	Roses, legumes, proteas, dogwoods, hydrangeas, mistletoes, euphorbias, grapes, many more
Order	Urticales	Includes cannabis, nettles, mulberries, elms, others
Family	Urticaceae	Nettle family
Genus	Urtica	From uro, “I burn,” alluding to the nettle’s sting
Species	dioica	Dioecious, having male and female flowers on separate plants
ssp.	gracilis	Slender, graceful

About plant names...

Stinging nettle, so named for spiky hairs that are pretty much tiny hypodermic needles filled with a witch’s brew of irritating chemicals. You really have to appreciate stinging nettles. Most irritating plants inject something that causes your body to produce histamine in defense, which results in itching and burning. Nettles get right to the point: they inject you with histamine itself, along with serotonin, acetylcholine, formic acid (the same irritant in some bee stings), and leukotriens. They are specialists in chemical warfare.

These plants are North American natives. (A close relative, Urtica dioica ssp. dioica, is native to Europe and Asia, though long established in North America.) Both are found in temperate regions worldwide. They prefer river deltas, floodplains, margins of deciduous woodlands, fencerows, and waste places.

Plants: 2-3′ (60-100 cm) high, rarely up to twice that. The entire plant is covered in stinging hairs.

Leaves: Opposite, oblong, cordate, and serrate (with sawtooth edges). They are 1-6″ (3-15 cm) long.

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.

Fruits: Each inner pair of tepals encloses a single deltoid to ovoid seed.

Edibility: Dried or cooked, the young leaves are safely edible, and taste like spinach. Don’t even think about eating them raw!

Medical: Historically stinging nettle has been used to treat muscle and joint pain, eczema, arthritis, gout, anemia, and many other ailments. More recent studies have found that plant extracts aid in treatment of urinary tract infections, kidney and bladder stones, and rheumatism. Root extracts have been used to treat prostate complaints and irritable bladder. Stinging nettle extracts should not be used during pregnancy.

9/1/2013 · Trail Near James River, Midlothian, Virginia · ≈ 5 × 8″ (13 × 19 cm)

9/1/2013 · Trail Near James River, Midlothian, Virginia · ≈ 9 × 6″ (22 × 15 cm)

9/1/2013 · Trail Near James River, Midlothian, Virginia · ≈ 7 × 11″ (18 × 28 cm)

9/1/2013 · Trail Near James River, Midlothian, Virginia · ≈ 6 × 8″ (14 × 20 cm)

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

	*Boehmeria cylindrica*	*Acalypha rhomboidea*	*Pilea pumila*
Common Name	false nettle	three-seeded mercury	clearweed
Plant	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*.	6-24″ (15-60 cm) high, with smooth, round, translucent stems. They *do not have stinging hairs*.
Flowers	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.	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	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.	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	Spiky little balls.	A 3-lobed roughly spherical fruit containing 3 seeds.	Tiny green seeds (achenes) sometimes have black stripes.
Range/ Zones
Habitats	Moist, deciduous woods; wet meadows; swamps, bogs, and mashes	Open woods, moist soils, gravel bars, waste ground, roadsides, railroads.	Wet upland or floodplain forests, crevices in rocky canyons, and shady wetlands, streambanks.
Type	Wild	Wild	Wild