Nettle.Stinging nettle,Nettle leaf,Nettle root,Common Stinging Nettle?Therapeutics and Pharmacology,Historical or traditional use of Nettle.

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Plant Description of Nettle.Urtica dioica L....Spectrology and History of Nettle.

Nettle Extract INCI Name Urtica Dioica Extract EINECS ELINCS No 281-685-5 CAS 84012-40-8 Urticae radix Extracts Nettle Root Extract photo picture image Urtica dioica(Stinging nettle) is the name given to common nettle, garden nettle, and hybrids of these two plants. Originally from the colder regions of northern Europe and Asia, today this herbaceous shrub grows all over the world. Stinging nettle grows well in nitrogen-rich soil, blooms between June and September, and reaches nearly 3 feet high.

 The branching stems underground multiply by themselves and have multiple shoots. The leaves are heart-shaped, finely toothed, and tapered at the ends. The entire plant is covered with tiny stinging hairs, mostly on the underside of the leaves and stem

 Urtica dioica is a native British perennial growing in damp forests or wherever land has been disturbed by Man. It has a richly-branched yellow rhizome, which spreads which over large areas, and from which grow numerous erect, quadrangular stems. These are up to 120cm tall and are covered with long stinging hairs and short bristly hairs. The opposite, stalked, cordate or lanceolate leaves are serrated at the margin and covered on both sides with stinging hairs. The flowers are unisexual, the plants dioecious, although monoecious ones do occur. The flowers are arranged in drooping panicles, growing in groups from the upper leaf axils. The male inflorescences are erect and shortly branched, with four perianth segments and four stamens. The female flowers have two perianth segments and a superior ovary with a stalkless stigma. The fruit is an achene.

 It consumes the phlegmatic superfluities in the body of man, that the coldness and moisture of winter has left behind.

 The well-known Stinging Nettle is a perennial growing to about four feet (1.2 m). It has a creeping root, sharp-pointed leaves and greenish flowers. The irritant substance which causes the sting when the prickly hairs are touched is a mixture of histamine and formic acid.

 A detailed description of this familiar plant is hardly necessary; its heart-shaped, finelytoothed leaves tapering to a point, and its green flowers in long, branched clusters springing from the axils of the leaves are known to everyone. The flowers are incomplete: the male or barren flowers have stamens only, and the female or fertile flowers have only pistil or seed-producing organs. Sometimes these different kinds of flowers are to be found on one plant; but usually a plant will bear either male or female flowers throughout, hence the specific name of the plant, dioica, which means 'two houses.'

 The male flower consists of a perianth of four greenish segments enclosing an equal number of stamens, which bend inwards in the bud stage, but when the flower unfolds spring backwards and outwards, the anthers with the sudden uncoiling, exploding and scattering the pollen. The flowers are thus adapted for wind-fertilization. The perianth of the female flower is similar, but only contains a single, one-seeded carpel, bearing one style with a brush-like stigma. The male flowers are in loose sprays or racemes, the female flowers more densely clustered together.

 The Nettle flowers from June to September. As a rule the stem attains a height of 2 to 3 feet. Its perennial roots are creeping, so it multiplies quickly, making it somewhat difficult of extirpation.

 The whole plant is downy, and also covered with stinging hairs. Each sting is a very sharp, polished spine, which is hollow and arises from a swollen base. In this base, which is composed of small cells, is contained the venom, an acrid fluid, the active principle of which is said to be bicarbonate of ammonia. When, in consequence of pressure, the sting pierces the skin, the venom is instantly expressed, causing the resultant irritation and inflammation. The burning property of the juice is dissipated by heat, enabling the young shoots of the Nettle, when boiled, to be eaten as a pot-herb.

 Spectrology and History of Nettle:

 Nettle has a long history of use as a food,medicine and textile fiber.Grieve states that the common name of Nettle is derived from the German noedl meaning "needle,"possibly from its sharp sting,or in reference to the fact that it once furnished thread and cloth before the introduction of flax and hemp into Europe(1971,575).'Net' is stated as being the passive participle of ne,a verb that in many Indo-European languages such as Latin and Sanskrit,means 'sew' or 'bind',respectively (Grieve 1971,575).Nettle was one time highly esteemed as a textile fiber, and is highly durable,once thought to be the only real equivalent to cotton,used by the third Reich during the second world war as a textile in manufacture of German I uniforms(Grieve 1971,575;Wood 1999,482).Beyond its importance as a fiber however,Nettle has long been regarded as an important and nutritious green vegetable,one of the first edible green growing things of spring,picked young and eaten steamed or in soups, said to be a good corrector of the bowels.The body of the famous Tibetan yogi Milarepa is said to have turned green from consuming nothing other than Nettle during his meditations.Despite being classifed as a weed in many parts of the North America,Nettle was at one time highly prized commodity in rural areas, where the English poet Campbell recounts of his travels,"In Scotland I have eaten nettles,I have slept in nettle sheets,and I have dined off a nettle tablecloth"(Grieve 1971,575).More recently Nettle has been used as a commercial source of chlorophyll,and Weiss states that this color has been used in Germany as a food coloring agent for canned vegetables(1988,262;Mills and Bone 2000,490).

 Its erect stalk, two to three feet in height, bears dark green leaves with serrated margins and small, inconspicuous flowers. Botanists now designate it Urtica dioica L. and place it in the family Urticaceae. The American material differs from the typical European Urtica dioica subspecies dioica primarily in that it has male and female flowers on the same plant. Some botanists treat the varieties of U. dioica subspecies gracilis as separate species. The four Urtica species (with two subspecies and six varieties) that occur in North America have stinging hairs. (After accidental contact with it, people usually refer to the nettle by various uncomplimentary titles.)

 The entire plant, collected just before flowering, has had a lengthy reputation in folk medicine as a specific for asthma. Nettle has also been given as an expectorant, antispasmodic, diuretic, astringent, and tonic. Applying nettle to the scalp, especially in the form of the fresh juice, was said to stimulate hair growth. Cases of chronic rheumatism have been treated by placing nettle leaves directly on the afflicted area. Roman soldiers, facing the inhospitable climate in Britain, reportedly used the same irritation produced by nettle leaves to keep their legs warm. The tender tops of young, first growth nettles are believed especially palatable when cooked; Gibbons gives a number of recipes that use them, including nettle pudding and nettle beer.

 It is a strange fact that the juice of the Nettle proves an antidote for its own sting, and being applied will afford instant relief: the juice of the Dock, which is usually found in close proximity to the Nettle, has the same beneficial action.
   'Nettle in, dock out.
    Dock rub nettle out!'
     is an old rhyme.

   If a person is stung with a Nettle a certain cure will be effected by rubbing Dock leaves over the part, repeating the above charm slowly. Another version is current in Wiltshire:
   Out 'ettle in dock,
    Dock zhail ha' a new smock;
     'Ettle zhant ha' narrun! (none)
   Nettle Extract INCI Name Urtica Dioica Extract EINECS ELINCS No 281-685-5 CAS 84012-40-8 Urticae radix Extracts Nettle Root Extract photo picture image

 Revenge Close Encounters with Nettles.

 another unpleasant plant that you may enounter out on the trail is Stinging Nettle (Urtica dioica). The long range effects of Nettles aren't nearly as pronounced as Poison Ivy, but it can cause pretty intense short-term annoyance. Nettles have little prickly hairs that stick in your skin and sting and itch like crazy. Again, don't touch the exposed area. You won't have any trouble recognizing when you have just walked through Nettles. As soon as you can find water, wash the exposed area and the discomfort should vanish almost immediately.

 Aside from the stinging factor, the Nettle is a very useful plant with uses as food and many medicinal applications. Its constituents include Formic acid, histamines, acetylcholine, glocoquinones, minerals including iron, silica, potassium, manganese and sulphur and vitamins A C.

 Nettles can grow just about anywhere. The fresh green leaves may be cooked and eaten like spinach, or made into soup or tea. (The sting is not present in the cooked or dried plant form.) In spring, a tea made from the leaves is a powerful tonic that provides many important vitamins and minerals. The vitamin C content works to help the iron be absorbed by the body. There are many folk and homeopathic medicinal uses for nettles.

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citations1.Nettle.Stinging nettle,Nettle leaf,Nettle root,Common Stinging Nettle?Therapeutics and Pharmacology,Historical or traditional use of Nettle.

last edit date:22th,May.2009.