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Urtica

{{Short description|Genus of flowering plants}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2023}}{{Automatic taxobox

| name =

| oldest_fossil = Miocene

| image = Illustration Urtica dioica0.jpg

| image_caption = Stinging nettle (Urtica dioica)Otto Wilhelm Thomé Flora von Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz 1885, Gera, Germany

| taxon = Urtica

| authority = L.

| subdivision_ranks = Species

| subdivision = See text

| synonyms = Hesperocnide

}}

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.

Description

Urtica species grow as annuals or perennial herbaceous plants, rarely shrubs. They can reach, depending on the type, location and nutrient status, a height of {{convert|10|–|300|cm|abbr=off|frac=4}}. 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.{{in lang|fr}} Fabricio Cardenas, [http://vieuxpapierspo.blogspot.fr/2015/05/orties-inoffensives-collioure-1874.html Vieux papiers des Pyrénées-Orientales, Orties inoffensives à Collioure en 1874], 7 May 2015.

Taxonomy

= Phylogeny =

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).{{Cite journal |last1=Huang |first1=Xianhan |last2=Deng |first2=Tao |last3=Moore |first3=Michael J. |last4=Wang |first4=Hengchang |last5=Li |first5=Zhimin |last6=Lin |first6=Nan |last7=Yusupov |first7=Ziyoviddin |last8=Tojibaev |first8=Komiljon Sh. |last9=Wang |first9=Yuehua |last10=Sun |first10=Hang |date=August 2019 |title=Tropical Asian Origin, boreotropical migration and long-distance dispersal in Nettles (Urticeae, Urticaceae) |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1055790319300016 |journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution |language=en |volume=137 |pages=190–199 |doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2019.05.007|pmid=31102687 |bibcode=2019MolPE.137..190H |s2cid=158047492 }}

= Species =

File:Urt.doi.mal.jpg]]

File:Urtica dioica (1).jpg

File:蕁麻(咬人貓) Urtica thunbergiana 20220406201651.jpg]]

A large number of species included within the genus in the older literature are now recognised as synonyms of Urtica dioica. Some of these taxa are still recognised as subspecies.{{cite web|url=http://www.theplantlist.org/tpl1.1/search?q=urtica|title=The Plant List: Urtica|publisher=Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanic Garden|access-date=6 September 2016}} Genetic evidence indicates that the two species of Hesperocnide are part of this genus.

Species in the genus Urtica, and their primary natural ranges, include:{{citation needed|date=August 2013}}

= Etymology =

The generic name Urtica derives from the Latin for 'sting'.Gledhill D. 1985. The Names of Plants. Cambridge University Press.{{ISBN|0521366755}}

Ecology

Due to the stinging hairs, Urtica species are rarely eaten by herbivores, but provide shelter for insects such as aphids, butterfly larvae, and moths.{{cite web|url=http://www.nettles.org.uk/nettles/wildlife.asp|title=Nettles and Wildlife|author=Chris Baines}} They are also consumed by caterpillars of numerous Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths), such as the tortrix moth Syricoris lacunana and several Nymphalidae, e.g. Vanessa atalanta, a red admiral butterfly.{{Cite book |last=Acorn |first=John |title=Bugs of Washington and Oregon |publisher=Lone Pine |year=2001 |isbn=978-1-55105-233-5 |location=Auburn, WA |pages=39}}

Toxicity

Besides the stinging hairs in general, in New Zealand U. ferox is classified as a poisonous plant, most commonly upon skin contact.{{cite journal |last1=Slaughter |first1=R. J |last2=Beasley |first2=DM |last3=Lambie |first3=BS |last4=Wilkins |first4=GT |last5=Schep |first5=LJ |year=2012 |title=Poisonous plants in New Zealand: A review of those that are most commonly enquired about to the National Poisons Centre |url=https://www.nzma.org.nz/journal/read-the-journal/all-issues/2010-2019/2012/vol-125-no-1367/article-slaughter |journal=New Zealand Medical Journal |volume=125 |issue=1367 |pages=87–118 |pmid=23321887}}

Uses

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).{{cite book|title=Historical and modern uses of Urtica (pages 12-14). In: Urtica: The genus Urtica|editor=Kavalali, Gulsel M|author=Randall, Colin|pages=12–14|year=2004|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AoWtF1ruQJsC&pg=PA13|isbn=0203017927|publisher=CRC Press, Inc.}} Other processing methods include mechanical and chemical.{{Cite web|last1=Vogl|first1=C.R.|last2=Hart|first2=A.|date=March 3, 2003|title=Production and processing of organically grown ®ber nettle (Urtica dioica L.) and its potential use in the natural textile industry: A review|url=https://orgprints.org/id/eprint/6926/1/AJAA18_3_2003_nettle.pdf}}

= Culinary =

Urtica is an ingredient in soups, omelettes, banitsa, purée, and other dishes. In Mazandaran, northern Iran, a soup (Āsh) is made using this plant.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QzqXzbAbsB8C&q=nettle+soup+iran|title=The New Persian Kitchen|last=Shafia|first=Louisa|date=2013-04-16|publisher=Ten Speed Press|isbn=9781607743576|language=en}} Nettles were used in traditional practices to make nettle tea, juice, and ale, and to preserve cheeses, such as in Cornish Yarg.{{Cite book|last=Randall|first=Colin|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/56420294|title=Urtica : therapeutic and nutritional aspects of stinging nettles|date=2003|publisher=|isbn=0-203-01792-7|location=London|pages=|oclc=56420294}}

In folklore

File:Urtica dioica 2849 cropped.jpg]]

=Asian=

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.{{citation | title = The Life of Milarepa | vauthors =Quintman A, Lopez DS | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=yM_Wwh_75YMC&dq=milarepa%2C+nettle&pg=PT14 | page = 139 | year = 2003 | isbn = 0-14-310622-8 | publisher = Penguin }}

=Caribbean=

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.[http://saxakali.com/youth/caribbean_folktales.htm Caribbean folktales]

=European=

An old Scots rhyme about the nettle:Old Wives Lore for Gardeners, Boland M

: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.[http://www.dsl.ac.uk/dsl/ Dictionary of the Scots Language (online)] 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.{{cite book |last1=Mabey |first1=Richard |title=Food for Free |year=2004 |publisher=HarperCollins UK |isbn=0-00-718303-8 |edition=2004 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NPaET92U7U4C |access-date=22 April 2023}}

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:

:Tender-handed, stroke a nettle,

:And it stings you for your pains.

:Grasp it like a man of mettle,

:And it soft as silk remains.

:

:'Tis the same, with common natures,

:Use ’em kindly, they rebel:

:But, be rough as Nutmeg-graters,

:And the rogues obey you well.{{cite web |last1=Tréguer |first1=Pascal |title=Meaning and origin of the phrase 'to grasp the nettle' |url=https://wordhistories.net/2019/01/28/grasp-nettle-origin/ |website=word histories |date=28 January 2019 |access-date=22 April 2023}}

In Hans Christian Andersen's fairy-tale "The Wild Swans," the princess had to weave coats of nettles to break the spell on her brothers.

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.

References

{{Reflist}}

External links

{{commons}}

  • {{cite EB1911 |wstitle=Nettle |volume=19 |pages=421–422|short=x}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q121671}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Urticaceae genera

Category:Leaf vegetables

Category:Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus

Category:Taxa described in 1753