Scientific Name:
Urtica dioica
Pronunciation:
UR-ti-kuh dye-OH-ih-kuh
Common Name:
stinging nettle
Family Name:
Urticaceae
Plant Type:
Herbaceous perennial, Weed (horticultural)
Key ID Features:
Leaves opposite, simple, ovate, and deeply serrated with petioles and stipules and covered with fine stinging hairs on the margins and underside of leaves; florets 1-2mm long with 4 green sepals and no petals; fruit an achene 1-1.5mm long.
Habit:
Stiffly upright
Form:
Oval - vertical
Texture:
Medium
Mature Height:
1.3 - 2.0m
Mature Spread:
0.1 - 0.3m
Origin:
Canada - northern, U.S. - central, U.S. - northeast, U.S. - northwest, U.S. - southwest (Naturalized In BC)
Hardiness Rating:
Zone 3: (-40 to -34 °C)
Exposure:
Full sun, Part sun/part shade, Filtered shade
Soil/Growing Medium:
Water Use:
Moderate
Landscape Uses:
Attract beneficial insects, Attract birds, Attract butterflies, Herb, Medicinal plant
Additional Info:
Leaf Morphology:
Form:
Simple
Arrangement:
Opposite
Texture/Venation:
Prickly
Surfaces:
Tomentose
Colour in Fall:
Green
Shapes:
Ovate
Apices:
Acute
Margins:
Serrate
Inflorescence Type:
Panicle
Flower Morphology:
Monoecious plant
Number Of Petals:
0
Ovary Position:
Perigynous
Colour (petals):
Not showy, Green-yellow
Flower Time at Peak:
Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep
Additional Info:
Subspecies gracilis is monoecious
Fruit Type:
Achene
Fruit Colour:
Green
Fruiting Time:
Jul, Aug, Sep
Additional Info:
Not showy,
Bark or Stem Colour:
Organ Modifications:
Rhizomes
Propagation:
Seed, Division - below ground parts
Pest Susceptibility:
(Pest resistant, Disease resistant, Deer resistant, Rabbit resistant)
Course(s):
- not used (on campus)
Location(s):
- (TFL) Turf Field Lab
- (TFLW) Turf Field Lab West
- (WDH) Wark-Dumais House
- (WDY) WeeDY location