U. dioica is known by several other common names, including “Common Nettle”, “Bigsting Nettle”, “Tall Nettle”, and “Slender Nettle. " There are actually 35 to 40 different species in the Urtica genus in Family Urticaceae. All true nettles are a part of the Nettle Family Urticaceae. There are many other species of plants with the common name “nettle” attached to it, but may not be part of the aforementioned taxonomical family. One such exemplary species is Hemp Nettle, Galeopsis tetrahit, which actually belongs to the Mint Family, Lamiaceae. It may be of interest to note that not all species of stinging nettle have literal stinging properties. There are six subspecies of stinging nettle, five of which have stinging properties. This species, along with its subspecies, is distributed all over the world, from Africa to Europe and in North and South America. Stinging nettle is native to western North America, Europe, Asia, northern Africa, and introduced elsewhere. The medicinal properties of nettles were first harnessed in medieval Europe. The plant has been shown to cleanse the body of metabolic waste and increase production of red blood cells. Even today, nettles are steamed and dried for stews and tea. However, this plant is often also seen as a noxious weed that dominates disturbed areas in or near forests, or in clearings with moist, fertile soil.
Some stinging nettle subspecies may have green stems, whereas other subspecies may have purple stems.
Male flowers are typically greenish-yellow, with 4 sepals and 4 stamens. Female flowers are more green, with 4 pubescent (hairy) sepals and 1 pistil.
False Nettle (Boehmeria cylindrica) Horsebalm (Collinsonia canadensis) White Snakeroot (Eupatorium rugosum) Hemp Nettle (Galeopsis tetrahit) White Deadnettle (Lamium album) Wood Nettle (Laportea canadensis) Northern Bugleweed (Lycopus uniflorus) Horehound (Marrubium vulgare) Spearmint (Mentha spicata) Upright Pellitory (Parietaria officinalis) Clearweed (Pilea pumila) Self Heal (Prunella vulgaris) Marsh Hedge Nettle (Stachys palustris)
Hemp nettle grows shorter than stinging nettle and also has bristly hairs on the stems and leaves. It also has typically wider leaves (though shape ranges from oval to lance-shaped), and has pink, white, or variegated flowers growing from the base of the leaf. The plant itself tends to be a little darker green than stinging nettle. This species is an annual that grows from seed spread from pre-existing hemp nettles, or deposited by animals, and human activity. Hemp nettle has been deemed a noxious weed in some parts of North America.
Flower clusters are droopy like stinging nettle, but they are born on cymes (branching flower clusters) at the top of the plant. Male flowers are borne from the axils of the leaves, whereas female flowers are at the top of the plant. Wood nettle will have branching flower clusters at the top of the plant, unlike stinging nettle.
Flower clusters are droopy like stinging nettle, but they are born on cymes (branching flower clusters) at the top of the plant. Male flowers are borne from the axils of the leaves, whereas female flowers are at the top of the plant. Wood nettle will have branching flower clusters at the top of the plant, unlike stinging nettle.
Northern Bugleweed is non-stinging, and belongs in the mint family (Family Lamiaceae).
Flowers of spearmint are a light pinkish-purple. They are found at the top of the plant, and form in dense spikes of whorled flowers. Usually this inflorescence consists of a main, dense spike, and two smaller, lateral spikes. {“smallUrl”:“https://www. wikihow. com/images/thumb/7/78/MENTHA_SPICATA_infloresence. jpeg/460px-MENTHA_SPICATA_infloresence. jpeg”,“bigUrl”:”/images/thumb/7/78/MENTHA_SPICATA_infloresence. jpeg/420px-MENTHA_SPICATA_infloresence. jpeg",“smallWidth”:460,“smallHeight”:613,“bigWidth”:420,“bigHeight”:560,“licensing”:"<div class="mw-parser-output">
By Isidre blanc - Own work, CC BY-SA 4. 0, <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" class="external free" href="https://commons. wikimedia. org/w/index. php?curid=37515240">https://commons. wikimedia. org/w/index. php?curid=37515240</a>\n</p>
License: <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" class="external text" href="https://creativecommons.
org/licenses/by-sa/3.
0/">Creative Commons</a>
\n</p></div>"}
Flowers of clearweed are in narrow racemes that are shorter than stinging nettle, at only about 1 inch (2. 5 cm) long. There is also some branching on each flowering stem.
