Kingdom: Plantae

Phylum: Magnoliophyta -- flowering plants

Class: Magnoliopsida --dicotyledons

Order: Urticales

Family: Urticaceae -- nettle

Subspecies: Most Palouse plants are ssp. holosericea, but ssp. gracilis is also present.

Common Name: stinging nettle

Species Code: URDI

Origin: Native to deep, moist, rich soils of meadows, thickets and open forest native.

Rare: no

Form: forb, perennial from rhizomes, 1-3 meters tall, from glabrous with a few stinging hairs to strongly bristly and sericeous-pubescent.

Duration: perennial

Longevity: long

Habitat Type: shrub thickets, riparian, uncommon in open prairie

Wetland Indicator Status: FAC+

Leaves: opposite, petiolate, stipules prominent; blade 7-15 cm long, narrowly lanceolate to broadly ovate, coarsely serrate, with 3-5 prominent veins from the base.

Mature height: 40-120 inches

Flowers: clustered, borne in axillary panicles or branching spikes, mostly monoecious, the pistillate flowers above the staminate, perianth greenish, inconspicuous, apetalous, 1-2 mm long, pubescent; sepals 4, 1-2 mm long.

Flower color: green

Bloom: May, June

Bloom starts on: late May

Bloom ends on: late June

Fruit: achene, ovoid, 1.5 mm long, flattened.

Characteristics:
Reproduces both sexually by seed and vegetatively by rhizomes.
U. holosericea in Piper & Beattie 1914, in Davis 1953, and in St. John 1963.
Two North American subspecies and a European subspecies are present in North America. The dioecious European ssp. dioica is found mostly in the eastern portion of North America. The two native forms, ssp. holosericea and ssp. gracilis differ mostly on the amount and type of pubescence and the abundance of stinging hairs. Some treatments recognize only one native subspecies, including ssp. holosericea in a more widely variable ssp. gracilis. Older floras may recognize several to many other infraspecific taxa.
4,323,809 seeds/lb (Hassell et al 1996).
Fruit is an achene.
Plants growing in full sun produce more seed than those growing in partial shade (Basset et al 1977).
2n=26 for ssp. holosericea (Flora of North America Editorial Committee 1993, Baldwin et al 2004).
2n=26,52 for ssp. gracilis (Flora of North America Editorial Committee 1993, Baldwin et al 2004).
ssp. holosericea is diploid, ssp. gracilis has both diploids and tetraploids. Both subspecies are monoecious.
ssp. dioica is introduced from Europe and Asia. It is dioecious and tetraploid.
Wind pollinated.
Plants are self compatible (Basset et al 1977).
Plants are covered with stinging hairs which inject irritating chemicals into the skin when touched. Histamine and acetylcholine and are thought to be involved in the reaction.
Tender shoots can be eaten when cooked because heat breaks down the irritating compounds.
Fibers of mature stems can be twisted into thread and string.
Native peoples used the plants medicinally and for making cordage (Moerman 2003).
Pollen can cause hay fever (Basset et al 1977).
Urtica dioica is the host for the larva of Milbert's tortoiseshell (Aglais milberti), Lorquin's admiral, (Limentis lorquini) and the Satyr angelwing (Polygonia satyrus) butterflies (Pocewicz 2005).
Larva of the Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta) and the West Coast Lady (V. anabella) also feed on nettles (Neill 2001, Pyle 2002).

Comments: Sometimes found in moist areas in open prairie.

Sun requirement: full sun to partial shade

Soil moisture: mesic

Fire: Regrows from surviving rhizomes following most fires (Carey 1995).

Hazards: Plants are covered with stinging hairs. The native forms may be weedy in certain situations.

Sowing time: fall

Transplant time: spring

Stratification: may benefit from cold moist stratification

Seed yield: high

Seed harvest: difficult

Seed first harvest: second season

Planting duration: long

Seed shatter: low

Seed size: small

Seed harvest date: autumn

Seed comments: wear protective clothing to harvest seed by hand

Herbaria: Specimen data and digital resources from The Consortium of Pacific Northwest Herbaria

Key words: native upland wetland perennial forb

Propagation:
1 protocol in the Native Plant Network
University of Kentucky

Other Propagation Information:
Fresh seed exposed to light germinates shortly after collection. Seeds remain viable at least 2 years (Buhler & Hoffman 1999).
Seed probably requires long stratification, sow in fall. Seeds will germinate with light after warm stratification. Can also be propagated by division (Luna 2001).
Seeds are non-dormant and fresh seed will germinate in 5-10 days. Seed will store at least 10 years (Bassett et al 1977).
Reproduces both sexually by seed and vegetatively by rhizomes.

References:
Baldwin, B.G., S. Boyd, B.J. Ertter, D.J. Keil, R.W. Patterson, T.J. Rosatti, and D.H. Wilken (eds). 2004. Jepson Online Interchange for California Floristics. University and Jepson Herbaria, University of California, Berkeley, CA. Accessed 10/1/09 online at http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/interchange.html

Bassett, I. J.; Crompton, C. W.; Woodland, D. W. 1977. The biology of Canadian weeds. 21. Urtica dioica L. Canadian Journal of Plant Science. 57: 491-498.

Buhler, Douglas D., and Melinda L. Hoffman. 1999. Andersen's Guide to Practical Methods of Propagating Weeds and Other Plants. Weed Science Society of America. Lawrence, Kansas. 248 pp.

Carey, Jennifer H. 1995. Urtica dioica. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/ [2009, October 1].

Davis, Ray J. 1952. Flora of Idaho. Wm. C. Brown, Dubuque, Iowa. 827 pp.

Flora of North America Editorial Committee, eds. 1993+. Flora of North America North of Mexico. 7+ vols. New York and Oxford. Oxford University Press. Online at http://www.fna.org/FNA/

Hassell, Wendell, W. Rocky Beavers, Steve Ouellette, and Thomas Mitchell. 1996. Seeding Rate Statistics for Native and Introduced Species. US Department of Interior and US Department of Agriculture, NRCS. Denver, CO.

Luna, Tara. 2001. Propagation Protocol for Stinging Nettle (Urtica dioica). Native Plants Journal 2(2):110-111.

Moerman, Dan. 2003. Native American Ethnobotany: a Database of Foods, Drugs, Dyes and Fibers of Native American Peoples, Derived from Plants. University of Michigan-Dearborn. Online at http://herb.umd.umich.edu/ Accessed 1/3/09.

Neill, William. 2001. The Guide to Butterflies of Oregon and Washington. Westcliffe Publishers, Inc., Englewood, CO. 160 pp.

Piper, C.V., and R.K. Beattie. 1914. The Flora of Southeastern Washington and Adjacent Idaho. Lancaster, PA: Press of the New Era Printing Company. 296 pp.

Pocewicz, Amy. 2005. Host Plants of Palouse Butterfly Species. 2 page handout to accompany the April 2005 presentation to the Palouse Prairie Foundation.

Pyle, Robert M. 2002. The Butterflies of Cascadia. The Seattle Audubon Society, Seattle, Washington. 420 pp.

St. John, Harold. 1963. Flora of Southeastern Washington and of Adjacent Idaho. 3rd edition. Outdoor Pictures. Escondido, CA.

Links:
Plant Profile from the USDA PLANTS Database
Species account from the Fire Effects Information System
Species description from Flora of North America
Species information from the University of Washington Herbarium