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Urtica dioica
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Common Nettle
( Urtica dioica )
Urtica dioica
More Photos at CalPhotos
More Info at Jepson eFlora
Calflora
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4 Nurseries Carry This Plant
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About Common Nettle (Urtica dioica)
4 Nurseries Carry This Plant
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Common nettle (
Urtica dioica
) is a perennial herb that?s native to California and much of North America. This plant is known for the stinging hairs on its leaves and stems. Although it is sometimes classified as weed, it has a long history of use as a food and medicinal plant.
Common nettle often appears as an understory plant in riparian woodland habitats. It also grows in marshes and moist meadows. Individual plants can reach several feet in height and grow in large colonies that provide cover for birds and small mammals. Small flowers grow in clusters on branching stems. The blooms attract many butterfly and moth species, making it a good pollinator garden plant. It grows best in rich, moist soil and tolerates partial shade.
Young common nettle leaves are edible and highly nutritious, with a flavor often compared to spinach. All parts of the plant are used in traditional medicine to treat a variety of ailments. Nettle is also used as a natural pesticide and in textiles.
https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/1074432-Urtica-gracilis-gracilis, Bhusal, K. K., Magar, S. K., Thapa, R., Lamsal, A., Bhandari, S., Maharjan, R., Shrestha, S., & Shrestha, J. (2022). Nutritional and pharmacological importance of stinging nettle (Urtica dioica L.): A review. Heliyon, 8(6), e09717. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2022.e09717, Carey, J. H. (1995) Urtica dioica. Fire Effects Information System, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory. https://www.fs.usda.gov/database/feis/plants/forb/urtdio/all.html
Plant Description
Plant Type
Perennial herb
Wildlife Supported
Butterflies & moths hosted ( 5
confirmed
, 13
likely
* )
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Anthophila alpinella
*
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*
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Landscaping Information
Nurseries
Carried by 4
Common uses
Butterfly Gardens
Natural Setting
Climate
Annual Precipitation: 5.6" - 76.8", Summer Precipitation: 0.13" - 4.22", Coldest Month: 22.9" - 56.3", Hottest Month: 46.3" - 80.9", Humidity: 0.05" - 29.78", Elevation: -1" - 10600"
Alternative Names
Common Names
: California Nettle, Slender Nettle, Stinging Nettle, Tall Nettle
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Common Nettle
Urtica dioica
Sources include:
Wikipedia
. All text shown in the "About" section of these pages is available under the
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License
. Plant observation data provided by the participants of the
California Consortia of Herbaria
, Sunset information provided by
Jepson Flora Project
. Propogation from seed information provided by the
Santa Barbara Botanical Garden
from "Seed Propagation of Native California Plants" by Dara E. Emery. Sources of plant photos include
CalPhotos
,
Wikimedia Commons
, and independent plant photographers who have agreed to share their images with Calscape. Other general sources of information include
Calflora
,
CNPS Manual of Vegetation Online
,
Jepson Flora Project
,
Las Pilitas
,
Theodore Payne
,
Tree of Life
,
The Xerces Society
, and information provided by CNPS volunteer editors, with special thanks to Don Rideout. Climate data used in creation of plant range maps is from
PRISM Climate Group, Oregon State University
, using 30 year (1981-2010) annual "normals" at an 800 meter spatial resolution.
Links:
Jepson eFlora Taxon Page
CalPhotos
Wikipedia
Calflora
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