Urtica is a
genus of
flowering plants in the family
Urticaceae. Many species have stinging hairs and may be called nettles or stinging nettles (the latter name applying particularly to U. dioica). The generic name Urtica derives from the
Latin for 'sting'.
Due to the stinging hairs, Urtica are rarely eaten by
herbivores, but provide shelter for insects. The fiber has historically been used by humans, and cooking preparations exist.
Description
Urtica species grow as
annuals or
perennialherbaceousplants, rarely shrubs. They can reach, depending on the type, location and nutrient status, a height of 10–300 centimetres (4–118 inches). The perennial species have underground
rhizomes. The green parts have stinging hairs. Their often quadrangular stems are unbranched or branched, erect, ascending or spreading.
Most
leaves and stalks are arranged across
opposite sides of the stem. The leaf blades are elliptic, lanceolate, ovate or circular. The leaf blades usually have three to five, rarely up to seven veins. The leaf margin is usually serrate to more or less coarsely toothed. The often-lasting
bracts are free or fused to each other. The
cystoliths are extended to more or less rounded.
In 1874, while in
Collioure (south of
France), French botanist
Charles Naudin discovered that a strong wind lasting 24 hours rendered the stinging hairs of nettles harmless for an entire week.[2]
Taxonomy
Phylogeny
The last common ancestor of the genus originated in
Eurasia, with fossils being known from the
Miocene of Germany and Russia, subsequently dispersing worldwide. Several species of the genus have undergone long distance
oceanic dispersal, such as Hesperocnide sandwicensis (native to Hawaii) and Urtica ferox (native to New Zealand).[3]
Species
A large number of species included within the genus in the older literature are now recognized as
synonyms of Urtica dioica. Some of these
taxa are still recognized as subspecies.[4] Genetic evidence indicates that the two species of Hesperocnide are part of this genus.[3]
Species in the genus Urtica, and their primary natural ranges, include:[citation needed]
Urtica dioica subsp. galeopsifolia Wierzb. ex Opiz (fen nettle or stingless nettle), Europe. (Sometimes treated as a separate species Urtica galeopsifolia.)
Urtica dubia – illegitimate synonym of U. membranacea
Fabric woven of nettle fiber was found in burial sites in Denmark dating to the
Bronze Age, and in clothing fabric,
sailcloth,
fishing nets, and paper via the process called
retting (microbial enzymatic degradation, similar to
linen processing).[10] Other processing methods include mechanical and chemical.[11]
Culinary
Urtica is an ingredient in
soups,
omelettes,
banitsa,
purée, and other dishes. In
Mazandaran, northern
Iran, a soup (
Āsh) is made using this plant.[12] Nettles were used in traditional practices to make nettle tea, juice, and
ale, and to preserve cheeses, such as in
Cornish Yarg.[10][13]
In folklore
Asian
Milarepa, the Tibetan
ascetic and saint, was reputed to have survived his decades of solitary
meditation by subsisting on nothing but nettles; his hair and skin turned green and he lived to the age of 83.[14]
Caribbean
The Caribbean trickster figure
Anansi appears in a story about nettles, in which he has to chop down a huge nettle patch in order to win the hand of the king's daughter.[15]
Gin ye be for lang kail coo the nettle, stoo the nettle
Gin ye be for lang kail coo the nettle early
Coo it laich, coo it sune, coo it in the month o' June
Stoo it ere it's in the bloom, coo the nettle early
Coo it by the auld wa's, coo it where the sun ne'er fa's
Stoo it when the day daws, coo the nettle early.
Coo, cow, and stoo are all Scottish for cut back or crop (although, curiously, another meaning of "stoo" is to throb or ache), while "laich" means short or low to the ground.[17] Given the repetition of "early," presumably this is advice to harvest nettles first thing in the morning and to cut them back hard (which seems to contradict the advice of the
Royal Horticultural Society). Alternatively, it may be recommending harvesting early in the year before the plants grow tall, as they become tough and stringy later.[18]
The English figure of speech "grasp the nettle", meaning to nerve oneself to tackle a difficult task, stems from a belief that nettles actually sting less if gripped tightly. This belief gave rise to a well-known poem by
Aaron Hill:
In the
Brothers Grimm's fairy-tale "
Maid Maleen", the princess and her maid must subsist on raw nettles while fleeing their war-ravaged kingdom. While standing in for the false bride during the wedding procession, she speaks to a nettle plant (which later proves her identity):
Oh, nettle-plant,
Little nettle-plant,
What dost thou here alone?
I have known the time
When I ate thee unboiled,
When I ate thee unroasted.
References
^Otto Wilhelm Thomé Flora von Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz 1885, Gera, Germany