The Thicket Field Guide
Nettle
Urtica dioica
- Plant family
- Nettle family (Urticaceae)
- Part used
- Leaves
- Where it grows
- Native to Europe, much of temperate Asia and western North Africa, and now found worldwide, usually on rich ground near rivers and wherever people have settled.
- Flavor
- Mild, earthy-green.
History
Nettle has been woven, cooked and dyed for thousands of years. Its stems hold a fiber used much like linen, and finds in Denmark date nettle cloth to the Bronze Age. The young leaves are still cooked like spinach in soups and pies, and the roots and leaves give yellow and green dyes.
The sting comes from fine hairs that snap at a touch; soaking or cooking takes it away. In German folklore the plant belonged to Thor, the thunder god, and it was said that lightning won’t strike a patch of nettles.