Urtica dioica subsp. dioica
stinging nettle
Urticaceae (Nettle family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
stinging nettle
Urticaceae (Nettle family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
Map
Distribution of Urtica dioica ssp. dioica
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Species Information
General:
Perennial herb from strong rhizomes; stems erect, simple or branched, solitary, smooth except for a few stinging hairs and bristles, 100-300 cm tall.
Leaves:
Basal leaves lacking; stem leaves narrowly lanceolate to widely egg-shaped, opposite, the blades 7-15 cm long, coarsely toothed, stalked; stipules 5-15 mm long.
Flowers:
Inflorescence of male or female flowers in a 1-7 cm axillary panicle on the same or different plants; corollas lacking; sepals 4, 1-2 mm long; female flowers usually uppermost.
Fruits:
Achenes, egg-shaped, flattened, 1.0-1.5 mm long.
Notes:
The native taxon is best recognized as a single, highly variable subspecies (Bassett et al. 1974, Boufford 1997).
Habitat and Range
Moist to mesic streamsides, deciduous woodlands, thickets, avalanche tracks, and alluvial floodplains in the lowland and steppe to lower subalpine zones; ssp. gracilis - common throughout BC; ssp. dioica - rare in SW BC (lower Fraser Valley); ssp. gracilis - N to AK, YT and NT, E to NF and S to ME, NH, NY, PA, NC, MS, LA, TX, NM, AZ, CA, and MX; S America, ssp. dioica - introduced from Europe.Synonyms
Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Urtica gracilis var. latifolia Farw.