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 latter name applying particularly to U. dioica). 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.
Descriptionedit
Urtica species grow as annuals or perennialherbaceousplants, 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 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 (south of France), French botanist Charles Naudin discovered that a strong wind lasting 24 hours rendered the stinging hairs of nettles harmless for an entire week.[2]
Taxonomyedit
Phylogenyedit
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 (native to Hawaii) and Urtica ferox (native to New Zealand).[3]
Speciesedit
A large number of species included within the genus in the older literature are now recognized as synonyms of Urtica dioica. Some of these taxa are still recognized as subspecies.[4] Genetic evidence indicates that the two species of Hesperocnide are part of this genus.[3]
Species in the genus Urtica, and their primary natural ranges, include:[citation needed]
Urtica dioica subsp. afghanica Chrtek, from southwestern and central Asia, sometimes has stinging hairs or is sometimes hairless.
Urtica dioica subsp. dioica (European stinging nettle), from Europe, Asia, and northern Africa, has stinging hairs.
Urtica dioica subsp. gansuensis C.J.Chen, from eastern Asia (China), has stinging hairs.
Urtica dioica var. glabrata (Clem.) Asch. & Graebn.
Urtica dioica var. hispida (Lam. ex DC.) Tausch ex Ott
Urtica dioica var. holosericea Fr.
Urtica dioica subsp. kurdistanica Chrtek
Urtica dioica subsp. pubescens Ledeb. Domin, in many sources as U. dioica subsp. galeopsifolia (fen nettle or stingless nettle). Europe, Southwestern Russia east to Central Asia.
Urtica dioica subsp. sondenii (Simmons) Avrorin ex Geltman northeastern Europe, northern Asia
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 (microbial enzymatic degradation, similar to linen processing).[10] Other processing methods include mechanical and chemical.[11]
Culinaryedit
Urtica is an ingredient in soups, omelettes, banitsa, purée, and other dishes. In Mazandaran, northern Iran, a soup (Āsh) is made using this plant.[12] Nettles were used in traditional practices to make nettle tea, juice, and ale, and to preserve cheeses, such as in Cornish Yarg.[10][13]
In folkloreedit
Asianedit
Milarepa, 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.[14]
Caribbeanedit
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.[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 the Royal 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 by Aaron Hill:
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 (which later proves her identity):
Oh, nettle-plant,
Little nettle-plant,
What dost thou here alone?
I have known the time
When I ate thee unboiled,
When I ate thee unroasted.
Referencesedit
^Otto Wilhelm Thomé Flora von Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz 1885, Gera, Germany
^(in French) Fabricio Cardenas, Vieux papiers des Pyrénées-Orientales, Orties inoffensives à Collioure en 1874, 7 May 2015.
^ abHuang, Xianhan; Deng, Tao; Moore, Michael J.; Wang, Hengchang; Li, Zhimin; Lin, Nan; Yusupov, Ziyoviddin; Tojibaev, Komiljon Sh.; Wang, Yuehua; Sun, Hang (August 2019). "Tropical Asian Origin, boreotropical migration and long-distance dispersal in Nettles (Urticeae, Urticaceae)". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 137: 190–199. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2019.05.007. PMID 31102687. S2CID 158047492.
^"The Plant List: Urtica". Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanic Garden. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
^"Urtica perconfusa". New Zealand Plant Conservation Network. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
^Gledhill D. 1985. The Names of Plants. Cambridge University Press.ISBN 0521366755
^Acorn, John (2001). Bugs of Washington and Oregon. Auburn, WA: Lone Pine. p. 39. ISBN 978-1-55105-233-5.
^Slaughter, R. J; Beasley, DM; Lambie, BS; Wilkins, GT; Schep, LJ (2012). "Poisonous plants in New Zealand: A review of those that are most commonly enquired about to the National Poisons Centre". New Zealand Medical Journal. 125 (1367): 87–118. PMID 23321887.
^ abRandall, Colin (2004). Kavalali, Gulsel M (ed.). Historical and modern uses of Urtica (pages 12-14). In: Urtica: The genus Urtica. CRC Press, Inc. pp. 12–14. ISBN 0203017927.
^Vogl, C.R.; Hart, A. (3 March 2003). "Production and processing of organically grown ®ber nettle (Urtica dioica L.) and its potential use in the natural textile industry: A review" (PDF).
^Shafia, Louisa (16 April 2013). The New Persian Kitchen. Ten Speed Press. ISBN 9781607743576.
^Randall, Colin (2003). Urtica : therapeutic and nutritional aspects of stinging nettles. London. ISBN 0-203-01792-7. OCLC 56420294.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^Quintman A, Lopez DS (2003), The Life of Milarepa, Penguin, p. 139, ISBN 0-14-310622-8