Urtica dioica
Stinging nettle
How do you recognise stinging nettle?
The stem is upright and unbranched, and the dark green leaves sit opposite each other on it. The blade is ovate to narrowly ovate and at least twice as long as it is wide. Both the stem and the leaves carry numerous hairs, some of which sting.
What is it confused with?
Dead-nettle leaves resemble nettle, but they have no stinging hairs and their flowers are large and two-lipped. Hemp-nettles share the square stem, but their flowers are showy too.
Where does stinging nettle grow, and when does it flower?
Grows on nutrient-rich ground, in yards, ditches, shorelines, and old settlement sites. Flowers in July and August, with a catkin-like inflorescence 4–8 cm long.
Can you collect it for a herbarium?
Nettle is very common, but collect it wearing gloves: the stinging hairs work on a drying plant too. Careful. Do not taste this plant.
Did you know?
Male and female flowers grow on separate plants, which is what the species name dioica refers to. Nettle demands nitrogen-rich soil, so a dense patch often marks an old dwelling site.
Where does stinging nettle grow in Finland?
The map shows where the species has been recorded. Darker squares mean more observations.
Loading the map
Observations: GBIF · Map: CARTO, OpenStreetMap
Sources: fi.wikipedia.org
Identify plants with your phone
Linnea identifies a plant from a photo and tells you its name and its story. Every find takes its own numbered place in your herbarium, with the day and the town where you found it.
