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{{SPlantbox
{{SPlantbox
|familia=Urticaceae
|familia=Urticaceae
|genus=Urtica
|genus=Urtica
|species=dioica
|species=dioica
|common_name=Big string nettle, Common nettle, Stinging nettle
|common_name=Big string nettle, Common nettle, Stinging nettle
|Max wd metric=ft
|Max wd metric=ft
|width_ref=Flora - A Gardener's Encyclopedia
|width_ref=Flora - A Gardener's Encyclopedia
|poisonous=sting/toxins from uncooked plant
|lifespan=perennial
|lifespan=perennial
|life_ref=Flora - A Gardener's Encyclopedia
|life_ref=Flora - A Gardener's Encyclopedia
|exposure=sun
|exposure=sun
|sun_ref=Flora - A Gardener's Encyclopedia
|sun_ref=Flora - A Gardener's Encyclopedia
|features=edible
|Temp Metric=°F
|Temp Metric=°F
|min_zone=3
|min_zone=3
|usda_ref=Flora - A Gardener's Encyclopedia
|usda_ref=Flora - A Gardener's Encyclopedia
|max_zone=9
|max_zone=9
|image=Upload.png
|image=Brennnessel 1.JPG
|image_width=240
|image_width=240
|image_caption=''Urtica dioica'' subsp. ''dioica''
}}
}}
'''Stinging nettle''' or '''common nettle''', '''''Urtica dioica''''', is a [[herbaceous]] [[perennial plant|perennial]] [[flowering plant]], native to [[Europe]], [[Asia]], northern [[Africa]], and [[North America]], and is the best-known member of the [[nettle]] genus ''[[Urtica]]''.
Stinging nettle is a [[Plant sexuality|dioecious]] [[Herbaceous plant|herbaceous]] [[perennial plant|perennial]], {{Convert|1|to|2|m|ft|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} tall in the summer and dying down to the ground in winter. It has widely spreading rhizomes and stolons, which are bright yellow as are the roots. The soft green [[leaf|leaves]] are {{Convert|3|to|15|cm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} long and are borne oppositely on an erect wiry green stem. The leaves have a strongly serrated margin, a cordate base and an acuminate tip with a terminal leaf tooth longer than adjacent laterals. It bears small greenish or brownish 4-merous flowers in dense axillary inflorescences. The leaves and stems are very hairy with non-stinging hairs and also bear many stinging hairs ([[trichome]]s), whose tips come off when touched, transforming the hair into a needle that will inject several chemicals that sting. The pain and itching from a nettle sting can last from only a few minutes to as long as a week.{{Citation needed|date=September 2009}}
==Cultivation==
==Cultivation==
==Varieties==
==Varieties==
The [[taxonomy]] of stinging nettles has been confused, and older sources are likely to use a variety of systematic names for these plants. Formerly, more species were recognised than are now accepted. However, there are at least five clear [[subspecies]], some formerly classified as separate species:
*''U. dioica'' subsp. ''dioica'' (European stinging nettle). Europe, Asia, northern Africa.
*[[Urtica dioica galeopsifolia|''U. dioica'' subsp. ''galeopsifolia'']] (fen nettle or stingless nettle). Europe. (Sometimes known as ''Urtica galeopsifolia'')
*''U. dioica'' subsp. ''afghanica''. Southwestern and central Asia. (Gazaneh in Iran)
*''U. dioica'' subsp. ''gansuensis''. Eastern Asia (China).
*''U. dioica'' subsp. ''gracilis'' (Ait.) Selander (American stinging nettle). North America.
*''U. dioica'' subsp. ''holosericea'' (Nutt.) Thorne (hairy nettle). North America.
Other species names formerly accepted as distinct by some authors but now regarded as [[synonymy|synonyms]] of ''U. dioica'' include ''U. breweri, U. californica, U. cardiophylla, U. lyalli, U. major, U. procera, U. serra, U. strigosissima, U. trachycarpa'', and ''U. viridis''. Other vernacular names include tall nettle, slender nettle, California nettle, jaggy nettle, burning weed, fire weed and bull nettle (a name shared by ''Cnidoscolus texanus'' and ''[[Solanum carolinense]]'').
==Gallery==
==Gallery==
<gallery perrow=5>
<gallery perrow=5>
Image:Urtica flowers.JPG|Detail of flowering stinging nettle.
Image:Urtica dioica.JPG|Detail of immature fruits of stinging nettle.
Image:Upload.png| photo 1
Image:Upload.png| photo 1
Image:Upload.png| photo 2
Image:Upload.png| photo 2
