Description
Nettle is a herbaceous plant that frequently reaches a height of 2 metres. With the help of its yellow spreading rhizomes, the plant can spread vegetatively and frequently creates thick colonies. The stems and leaves of this plant have many stinging and non-stinging trichomes (plant hairs), and the serrated leaves are borne in an opposite direction along the stem. Depending on the subspecies, the plants can be monoecious or dioecious. Wind pollinates the minuscule green or white flowers, which are produced in dense whorled clusters at the leaf axils and stem tips. Small achenes serve as the fruits, and the plants heavily yield seeds.
Varieties
Here are six typical nettle subspecies, however only five have stinging barbs:
Urtica dioica subsp. afghanica is a plant that is indigenous to central and southwestern Asia and occasionally lacks stinging thorns.
The nettle species U. dioica subsp. dioica is widely distributed across Europe.
China is the home of this species, U. dioica subsp. gansuensis.
North American stinging nettle, or U. dioica subsp. gracilis, is a species of plant.
U. dioica subsp. holosericea is a plant that grows throughout western North America and is also referred to as hoary nettle or mountain nettle.
Uses
Young leaves of the plant can be cooked and consumed as a nutritious potherb. The plant is frequently used in herbal therapy. Stinging nettle has also been used as a source of textile bast fibers and occasionally as an ingredient in cosmetics.
Nutrition
Whole, blanched nettles in 1 cup supply:
37 calories
6.7 g carbohydrates
2.4 g protein
6.1 g fiber
0.1 g fat
0.2 g sugar
Cultivation
Nettle grows frequently near sloughs, on stream banks, in waste areas, and in moist forests. It prefers moist, rich soil with a pH between 6 and 7, full or partial sunlight, and lots of moisture. Increased nitrogen will enhance yields.
Table
