Urtica is agenus offlowering plants in the familyUrticaceae. Many species have stinging hairs and may be callednettles orstinging nettles (the latter name applying particularly toU. dioica). The generic nameUrtica derives from theLatin for 'sting'.
Due to the stinging hairs,Urtica are rarely eaten byherbivores, but provide shelter for insects. The fiber has historically been used by humans, and cooking preparations exist.
Urtica species grow asannuals orperennialherbaceousplants, 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 undergroundrhizomes. The green parts have stinging hairs. Their often quadrangular stems are unbranched or branched, erect, ascending or spreading.
Mostleaves and stalks are arranged acrossopposite 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-lastingbracts are free or fused to each other. Thecystoliths are extended to more or less rounded.
In 1874, while inCollioure (south ofFrance), French botanistCharles Naudin discovered that a strong wind lasting 24 hours rendered the stinging hairs of nettles harmless for an entire week.[2]
The last common ancestor of the genus originated inEurasia, with fossils being known from theMiocene of Germany and Russia, subsequently dispersing worldwide. Several species of the genus have undergone long distanceoceanic dispersal, such asHesperocnide sandwicensis (native to Hawaii) andUrtica ferox (native to New Zealand).[3]
A large number of species included within the genus in the older literature are now recognised assynonyms ofUrtica dioica. Some of thesetaxa are still recognised as subspecies.[4] Genetic evidence indicates that the two species ofHesperocnide are part of this genus.[3]
Fabric woven of nettle fiber was found in burial sites in Denmark dating to theBronze Age, and in clothing fabric,sailcloth,fishing nets, and paper via the process calledretting (microbial enzymatic degradation, similar tolinen processing).[10] Other processing methods include mechanical and chemical.[11]
Urtica is an ingredient insoups,omelettes,banitsa,purée, and other dishes. InMazandaran, northernIran, a soup (Āsh) is made using this plant.[12] Nettles were used in traditional practices to make nettle tea, juice, andale, and to preserve cheeses, such as inCornish Yarg.[10][13]
Milarepa, the Tibetanascetic and saint, was reputed to have survived his decades of solitarymeditation by subsisting on nothing but nettles; his hair and skin turned green, and he lived to the age of 83.[14]
The Caribbean trickster figureAnansi 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 theRoyal 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 byAaron Hill:
In theBrothers 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):
The name of the villageKichkalnya (Republic of Tatarstan,Russia) derives from the Tatar word «qıçıtqan» (nettle); inTatar, the original form «Qıçıtqanlı» means “place where nettles grow”.
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