Urtica
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 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 perennial herbaceous plants, rarely shrubs. They can reach, depending on the type, location and nutrient status, a height of. 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, French botanist Charles Naudin discovered that a strong wind lasting 24 hours rendered the stinging hairs of nettles harmless for an entire week.
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 and Urtica ferox.Species
A large number of species included within the genus in the older literature are now recognised as synonyms of Urtica dioica. Some of these taxa are still recognised as subspecies. Genetic evidence indicates that the two species of Hesperocnide are part of this genus.Species in the genus Urtica accepted by Plants of [the World Online]:
- Urtica ardens
- Urtica aspera
- Urtica atrichocaulis
- Urtica atrovirens
- Urtica australis
- Urtica ballotifolia
- Urtica berteroana
- Urtica bianorii
- Urtica bracteola
- Urtica bullata
- Urtica cannabina
- Urtica chamaedryoides
- Urtica chengkouensis
- Urtica circularis
- Urtica cypria
- Urtica dioica
- Urtica domingensis
- Urtica echinata
- Urtica ferox
- Urtica fissa
- Urtica flabellata
- Urtica fragilis
- Urtica glomeruliflora
- Urtica gracilenta
- Urtica gracilis
- Urtica helanshanica
- Urtica himalayensis
- Urtica hyperborea
- Urtica incisa
- Urtica kioviensis
- Urtica lalibertadensis
- Urtica laurifolia
- Urtica leptophylla
- Urtica lilloi
- Urtica lobata
- Urtica macbridei
- Urtica magellanica
- Urtica mairei
- Urtica malipoensis
- Urtica masafuerae
- Urtica massaica
- Urtica membranacea
- Urtica membranifolia
- Urtica mexicana
- Urtica morifolia
- Urtica neubaueri
- Urtica × oblongata
- Urtica papuana
- Urtica parviflora
- Urtica perconfusa
- Urtica peruviana
- Urtica pilulifera
- Urtica platyphylla
- Urtica portosanctana
- Urtica praetermissa
- Urtica pseudomagellanica
- Urtica rupestris
- Urtica sansibarica
- Urtica simensis
- Urtica spatulata
- Urtica spirealis
- Urtica stachyoides
- Urtica subincisa
- Urtica sykesii
- Urtica taiwaniana
- Urtica thunbergiana
- Urtica triangularis
- Urtica trichantha
- Urtica urens
- ''Urtica urentivelutina''
Etymology
Ecology
Due to the stinging hairs, Urtica species are rarely eaten by herbivores, but provide shelter for insects such as aphids, butterfly larvae, and moths. They are also consumed by caterpillars of numerous Lepidoptera, such as the tortrix moth Syricoris lacunana and several Nymphalidae, e.g. Vanessa atalanta, a red admiral butterfly.Toxicity
Besides the stinging hairs in general, in New Zealand U. ferox is classified as a poisonous plant, most commonly upon skin contact.Uses
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. Other processing methods include mechanical and chemical.Culinary
Urtica is an ingredient in soups, omelettes, banitsa, purée, and other dishes. In Mazandaran, northern Iran, a soup is made using this plant. Nettles were used in traditional practices to make nettle tea, juice, and ale, and to preserve cheeses, such as in Cornish Yarg.In folklore
Asian
, 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.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.European
An old Scots rhyme about the nettle:Coo, cow, and stoo are all Scottish for cut back or crop, while "laich" means short or low to the ground. Given the repetition of "early," presumably this is advice to harvest nettles first thing in the morning and to cut them back hard. Alternatively, it may be recommending harvesting early in the year before the plants grow tall, as they become tough and stringy later.
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 Hans Christian Andersen's fairy-tale "The Wild Swans," the princess had to weave coats of nettles to break the spell on her brothers.
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 :