Nettle Health Article

Description

Nettle is a member of the Urticaceae family, which includes as many as 500 species worldwide. Many species are tropical. The stinging nettle (Urtica dioica) grows wild in nitrogen-rich soil on the edges of fields, stream banks, waste places, and close to stables and human habitations throughout the United States and Europe. This fibrous perennial is found throughout the world in temperate regions from Japan to the Andes Mountains. The plant seeds itself, and, in favorable conditions, nettle spreads freely from its tough, creeping yellow root. The hairy, erect, single stalks grow in dense clusters giving the plant a bushy look. The square stems produce heart-shaped, alternate leaves with pointed tips and deeply serrated edges. Leaves are dark green on the top and are a paler green and downy on the underside. The plant grows as tall as 4 ft (1.2 m). Leaves and stems are covered with needlelike hairs that pierce the skin on contact. The plant delivers a sharp sting and a lingering irritation caused by a combination of formic acid, serotonin, acetylcholine, and 5-hydroxytrypt-amine injected through the tiny needlelike hairs.

The common name nettle is taken from the Anglo-Saxon word noedl meaning "needle." Nettle's tiny green flowers grow in dangling clusters in the angles formed by the stalk and stem of the leaf. Flowers bloom from July to September. Each small fruit contains just one seed. Male and female flowers usually grow on separate plants of the stinging nettle, hence the species name dioica, meaning "separate," or "two houses." The genus name, Urtica, is taken from the Latin uro, "to burn." Small nettle (U. urens), an annual, usually has both male and female flowers on the same branched cluster. Its properties and uses are similar to those of the stinging nettle.

Older herbals cite the planet Mars with dominion over this common wayside plant. Nettle was certainly used in many battles. Roman nettle (U. pilulifera) is said to have been brought to Britain by Caesar's troops, who used the plant to flail themselves in an effort to keep warm in the cool, damp climate. Nettle's fibrous characteristics rival those of hemp and flax. Nettle fibers were woven into fabric for sails and ropes, and for German army uniforms as recently as World War I.