English name : STINGING NETTLE
Bot. name : Urthica diaica Family : Urticaceae
Anyone who has walked in the hills is sure to have experienced being stung by nettles. Widespread all over the temperate Himalayas this plant is completely covered with hollow stinging hairs full of formic acid. The brittle end of
the hair breaks when one brushes against the plant, and the contents are ejected into the skin causing discomfort and
rash.
The stinging nettle is very easy to recognise with its dark green, large, hairy and coarsely-toothed spear-shaped leaves that grow opposite each other on a robust, grooved stem. Both the stem and the leaves are clothed with
stinging hairs. This plant has tiny, green petal-less flowers growing in long, tassel-like clusters. Male and female
flowers grow on different plants.
The stems of the nettle contain a fibre and can be woven into cloth. There is a famous fairytale of a princess who was forced to weave cloth out of stinging nettles; she had to complete this painful task if she wanted her brothers ‘hack in human form, as .they had been turned into swans by an enchanter.
The leaves have a high vitamin C and A content and .the .tender ones can be made into salads and cooked as a vegetable. This is the food plant of the caterpillars of the Small Tortoiseshell and Red Admiral butterflies. For this
reason one sees it owing with these caterpillars in the summer.
In Hindi this pliant is well known as Bichu Buti. It is used to treat rheumatism and sometimes even to activate paralysed limbs. U. parviflora a closely related variety is found in the Kashmir Himalaya
Bot. name : Urthica diaica Family : Urticaceae
Anyone who has walked in the hills is sure to have experienced being stung by nettles. Widespread all over the temperate Himalayas this plant is completely covered with hollow stinging hairs full of formic acid. The brittle end of
the hair breaks when one brushes against the plant, and the contents are ejected into the skin causing discomfort and
rash.
The stinging nettle is very easy to recognise with its dark green, large, hairy and coarsely-toothed spear-shaped leaves that grow opposite each other on a robust, grooved stem. Both the stem and the leaves are clothed with
stinging hairs. This plant has tiny, green petal-less flowers growing in long, tassel-like clusters. Male and female
flowers grow on different plants.
The stems of the nettle contain a fibre and can be woven into cloth. There is a famous fairytale of a princess who was forced to weave cloth out of stinging nettles; she had to complete this painful task if she wanted her brothers ‘hack in human form, as .they had been turned into swans by an enchanter.
The leaves have a high vitamin C and A content and .the .tender ones can be made into salads and cooked as a vegetable. This is the food plant of the caterpillars of the Small Tortoiseshell and Red Admiral butterflies. For this
reason one sees it owing with these caterpillars in the summer.
In Hindi this pliant is well known as Bichu Buti. It is used to treat rheumatism and sometimes even to activate paralysed limbs. U. parviflora a closely related variety is found in the Kashmir Himalaya