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Two Burning Houses: A Natural History of Stinging Nettle

I clearly remember my introduction to the mystery and power of stinging nettle. On a late summer day, I found myself, alongside my graduate cohort, at the Northwest Indian College. Located on the Lummi Indian Reservation in Bellingham, Washington, the college caters exclusively to tribal members across the country and includes a number of programs focused on traditional skills and knowledge. Through their Traditional Plants and Foods program, instructors educate students on native medicine and healing foods. Vanessa Cooper, the program coordinator, spoke to us at length about the healing power of several native plants. I will never forget the transformation of Vanessa’s face when her talk turned to nettle. She became deeply serene and her eyes half-closed as she murmured,

Oh, I just love nettle.
She reminds us to pay attention.

What was it about this much-maligned plant that inspired such reverence in her? What power did this plant hold? I needed to find out.

Though cursed by hikers, gardeners, and homeowners alike, stinging nettle is a nutritional powerhouse, a potent medicine and endlessly useful. Its praises have been sung across the globe and nettle appears in many fables and myths, as well as European, Asian, and American history. It would be impossible to describe each use of this plant in detail, as well as go into the history of its use in indigenous North America. This is merely a glimpse into the full power of nettle.

Stinging nettle, or Urtica dioica, is a flowering plant that is found worldwide. It is native to northern Africa, North America, Asia, and Europe. Here in the United States, it is found in every state except Hawaii, though it grows most abundantly in areas with high annual rainfall. Nettle prefers nitrogen-rich soil and is commonly found in the understory of riparian areas, along the edges of meadows, in open, rich forests, and in soil where animal or human waste is present (“Plant Data Sheet,” n.d.). Nettle is deciduous, re-growing in the summer to a height of 3 to 7 feet from its deep and widespread rhizomes. Nettle, unlike many other plants, tends to produce only male or female flowers throughout each plant, thus giving it its name dioica, meaning “two houses.” The pollen-producing flowers, which bloom mid-summer, open suddenly, causing the anthers to spring open and release pollen. As such, stinging nettle is specifically adapted for wind fertilization (Grieve, 1971).

UrticaDioicaIllustration
(source: wikipedia.org)

Stinging nettle is, of course, most well known for its sting. Many members of the Urticaceae family also possess this stinging mechanism, which comes from hollow stinging hairs called trichomes that cover the stem as well as the undersides of nettle leaves. These trichomes break upon contact with humans or animals, revealing an internal sharp point. Once this sharp point makes contact with skin, it injects a combination of chemicals subcutaneously that produce the stinging sensation (“Burning and Stinging,” 2008). These chemicals include histamine, acetylcholine, serotonin, and formic acid (“Stinging Nettles,” n.d.). There are many purported antidotes to the sting of nettle. Quite amusingly, the juice of the plant’s own leaves will heal its sting. The juice of dock leaf, or Rumex obtusifolius, which often grows in close proximity to nettle, is also said to alleviate the pain.

The myriad medicinal benefits of stinging nettle have been widely documented. It is, like many other dark leafy greens, high in iron and protein. It also has one of the highest chlorophyll contents of any plant and is high in vitamins A, B1, B2, C, and K, as well as copper, manganese and calcium. It is described as being “an astringent, diuretic, tonic, anodyne, pectoral, rubefacient, styptic, anthelmintic, nutritive, alterative, hemetic, anti-rheumatic, anti-allergenic, anti-lithic/lithotriptic, haemostatic, stimulant, decongestant, herpatic, febrifuge, kidney depurative/nephritic, galactagogue, hypoglycemic, expectorant, anti-spasmodic, and anti-histamine” (Vance, n.d.).

Nettle is used globally to combat a wide range of afflictions. It is extremely helpful for respiratory ailments and may be consumed or inhaled as a decongestant, and to treat the symptoms of hay fever, asthma, and seasonal allergies. The high iron content in stinging nettle combats anemia and lethargy, and makes it a wonderful plant for women as it can ease menstrual cramps and prevent heavy bleeding during menstruation. The plant also has many benefits for expectant mothers. It guards against excessive bleeding, eases labor pains, and improves lactation. It is also a common prescription for kidney disorders, aids in the dissolving of kidney stones, encourages blood clotting, dilates the capillaries, and stimulates blood circulation. These clotting and circulation effects make it an excellent plant for treating bruises, cuts, and inflammation.
Nettle also helps to rebalance the body by acting as a tonic for the liver, blood and kidneys by balancing blood pH and safely flushing waste from the body (Krohn, 2007). It is also a common prescription for kidney disorders, aids in the dissolving of kidney stones, encourages blood clotting, dilates the capillaries, and stimulates blood circulation. These clotting and circulation effects make it an excellent plant for treating bruises, cuts, and inflammation.

The sting of the nettle, though painful, also produces beneficial results. The combination of acetylcholine and formic acid produce an improvement of cellular responses, capillary stimulation, and lymph flow. These reactions are said to reduce inflammation, speed healing, and improve circulation (Krohn, 2007). The sting has also been used for thousands of years as a treatment for rheumatism and arthritis (Jones, 1994).

Records indicating the use of nettle are plentiful throughout European and Asian history. Widespread use is recorded as far back as the Late Bronze Age, or between 1570 and 1200 BCE, and continues today. One early example is the story of Julius Caesar’s troops rubbing themselves with nettles, relying on the stings to keep them awake and alert during long and difficult northern campaigns between 58 and 45 BCE (Schneider, 2004).

The most common use of nettle in European history, by far, is as a textile. By drying and pounding the stalks of nettle, it is possible to extract fibers that may be twisted into robe or used to produce cloth. The production of nettle fabric began around the Late Bronze Age, if not earlier (Jones, 1994). The fabric is reported to be quite similar to flax or hemp, and could made into a variety of textures, from silky and fine to coarse and thick (Jones, 1994). An added benefit to this fabric is that it could be bleached and dyed in the same way as cotton textiles. As early as the 16th and 17th centuries, nettle fabric was the textile of choice for Scottish household linens. During much of the early 20th century, Germany made good use of nettle fibers. Germans discovered that nettle fiber, mixed with 10 percent cotton, made excellent underclothes, fabric, stockings, and tarps. Fishing nets during this time were also largely constructed from nettle twine.

France used nettle extensively in their production of paper, among many other items. French cheese-makers also discovered that a nettle leaf decoction would curdle milk and produce an excellent substitute for rennet. Of course, nettle has also been enjoyed in a culinary capacity for hundreds of years. The young leaves appear in many recipes from salads and soups to cordials and beer.

StingingNettleFlowering
Flowering nettle (photo by Kelly Sleight)

Indigenous peoples have enjoyed a strong relationship with the stinging nettle plant since time immemorial. Many tribes including the Winnebago, Coastal Salish, Omaha, Cupeño, Menominee, and Subarctic peoples wove nettle clothing, using it for undershirts, robes, cloaks, and ponchos (Pritzker, 2000). Several tribes also used in it in the construction of their fishing nets. This list of Native American uses for nettle, however, is extensive. Nettle has been used as food, medicine, clothing, and in ceremonial practice. Many tribes enjoy fresh nettle leaves or a nettle tonic in the spring, using it to purify the blood and the liver. Pregnant woman also commonly use the plant: it guards against extensive bleeding during childbirth, eases labor pains, and strengthens both the uterus and the fetus (Schneider, 2004). Nettle’s use as a styptic is not limited to pregnant women. The ability of the plant to stop bleeding makes it a popular choice for wound management. Wounds can be coated with dried, powdered nettle or wrapped in fresh leaves that had been lightly pounded in order to increase their medicinal benefits (Shimer, 2004).

One of the most well-recorded uses of stinging nettle, stretching back over 2,000 years, is urtication. Employed by indigenous tribes and many countries worldwide, it involved beating ones limbs with stalks of stinging nettle. To practitioners, it serves as a cure for painful, arthritic joints. There are conflicting opinions about the true benefit of this practice. Some argue that the sting merely provides a distraction from the pain of arthritis. However, others point to the injection of histamine by the nettle plant. Once histamine is injected into the body, an anti-histamine reaction occurs, with the body attempting to draw down the inflammation. It is thought that perhaps this reaction by the body also serves to reduce arthritic swelling. Warriors and hunters of many clans also used the sting of the nettle to keep themselves alert during battle or the hunt (Krohn, 2007).

There are also several documented ceremonial uses of stinging nettle. Several Nevada tribes, for example, burned nettle leaves in sweat lodges. This served two purposes: to act as an offering, and also to treat pneumonia and the flu (Hatfield, 2004). In addition to being a potent medicine, the Kawaiisu associated nettle with powerful dreams. If individuals wished to have medicine dreams they would walk barefoot through fields of nettle to prepare themselves to enter the dream world (D’Azavedo & Sturtevant, 1986).

Stinging nettle also appears in indigenous folklore, often being associated with coyote, suggesting that nettle is the trickster of the plant world. Nettle folktales also remind the listeners of man’s foolish decision to label the plant as a weed. A Cree legend illustrates this and echoes Vanessa’s sentiments on that summer afternoon at Northwest Indian College.

Masan [stinging nettle] was once golden with shimmering leaves and a bright aura. The human beings did not pay their respect to this plant medicine, taking it for granted, passing it by without offering tobacco. In time it turned color to blend in with the other plants and grew stinging hairs to catch the human beings by surprise and sting them. That made us pay respect. (Keane, 2005)

Even after conducting research, creating my own products, and consuming large quantities of tea and fresh leaves, I have only barely scratched the surface of available information about stinging nettle. It is impossible to learn of the seemingly endless uses for nettle and not subsequently wonder about the other plants we ignore because we deem them to be weeds. How strange that society has largely abandoned stinging nettle as a textile, a medicine, a food source, and a component of ceremony. Ignoring the rich history of global usage, we lament the presence of nettle in our gardens and carefully avoid it whenever encountered.

The field of ethnobotany is fraught with frustration. It would be possible to devote one’s entire career to studying just one plant, let alone to gain a working knowledge of many uses for several plants native to one’s geographical location. At the end of the project, I want to know so much more. I would like to improve upon the products I made, to try new recipes, and to learn about other plants that I might previously have considered a nuisance. The bounty of the plant world is limitless and I conclude this research with a commitment to learn and embrace the gifts of the natural world.

Comments

  1. Julie O'Donald

    Hi,
    I grow nettles and have appreciated their many historic values so I enjoyed this blog. As a butterfly gardener there was one thing missing. Nettles are the sole host plant for at least three species of Washington butterflies. Several other butterfly species prefer nettles when available. Knowing about the butterfly-nettle connection often improves the attitude many people have toward this plant.
    Julie

  2. Mercy Kariuki

    I knew stinging nettle as I grew up in Kenya.we feared going anywhere near it.But on the other hand,my mother would use gloves and get the leaves and would make mashed food using them,it produced such nice scent and very nice .
    Little did we know its nutritional value.Perhaps our parents knew.

  3. Julie Borges

    How do you handle the plant when harvesting the leaves?

    1. Lis van Berkel

      Harvest with gloves, like latex ones, or just a plastic bag. I love it!

  4. Julie

    Hi Petra,

    Thank you for the beautiful article. I was wondering if you had the full list of the titles for the references you cited? I do not see the full titles referenced at the bottom. I cannot tell what works they are from, such as ‘Keane, 2005.’ I would love to read more about the histories of nettle and others, and it would be very useful to have the full names. Thank you. Julie

    1. Christine

      Seconding this request, I am researching this plant and folklore surrounding it, I would be very interested in knowing the work(s) cited to read more, particularly anything relating to coyotes and nettles as referenced!

    2. Lori
      1. Sabina

        The link is broken. I too would appreciate more literature on the matter as I use nettle for all sorts of stuff.

  5. Sabina

    Good day to you all!

    Thank you so much for sharing this. I work with nettles for years now in our restaurant in Sarajevo, our whole menu revolves around nettle, even the restaurant’s name pays hommage to her. Before we opened, I felt I should pay respect to her as she is the single most nutritive, versatile, abundant plant which is unjustly so marginalized and even villainized in many cultures – I felt I had to bring due attention to her. As I learn about her, I am more in awe. Lately I obtained nettle textile as well and it is incredible!

  6. Rudiger Krause

    I’m not entirely clear about whether or not nettles are native to North America. Different on line sites provide conflicting information. Is there archeological evidence that nettles were used by Indigenous People in North America before contact?

    1. Tayna

      Yes it is a native this coming from an indigenous person of a Coast Salish Native American tribe it’s one we have used since time immemorial as food and Medicine. In fact our warriors would be patted down with it as a pain reliever before battle so that when the sting wore off they would have pain medicine and strength. It was also used for childbirth pain and menstrual cramps for Native women. It had so many uses for the tribes I come from and There are many plants that grow many places on the earth that they are native to.

  7. Miss sheila

    Stinging nettle is Healing the Emotional Mind, by giving us all the knowledge of the Mother Earth. She is who bore us to physical Be-ing.

  8. Sheila Wolters

    STINGING NETTLE IS EARTHS FREE HEALTH CARE SYSTEM. symbiosis. Power over 2 domains , or kingdoms. Thank you for the Honor you’ve given Stinging Nettle.

  9. Monica Lynn James

    Thank you so much for sharing this sacred teaching with us and the world. This plant is NOT a weed and I am so glad people outside Indigenous communities are able to benefit from this age-old teaching of living at one with plants. I am sharing this with my family and students and nettle was the first plant that started my path towards rediscovering Indigenous food and medicine. Much appreciated

  10. Emilie O'Brien

    Hello! Thank you for this article – I am currently researching nettle both for my plant medicine studies and as a research assistant. I want to share my understanding and findings – that according to several online sources including Wikipedia and the Royal Botanical Gardens Kew, Urtica Dioica/Stinging Nettle is NOT native to Canada or the United States – it was introduced, perhaps from Europe, and has over time become ‘naturalized’, which means it now reproduces and acts as though it were native.

    I would also love to see the references for this article, as the information is wonderful and I would love to work with it but cannot find, for example as another commenter mentions, Keane 2005, in my searches.

    Thanks very much!

    1. dani

      From the USDA plant database, the species stinging nettle, Urtica dioica, has three different subspecies in the PNW. Of the three subspecies, one is introduced (ssp. dioica) and two are native (ssp. holosericea & ssp. gracilis).

      https://plants.usda.gov/home/plantProfile?symbol=URDI

  11. Miriam Gieske

    Hi Emilie, I also used to think stinging nettles were introduced to North America, but according to the USDA PLANTS database, there are both native and introduced subspecies. Other sources say some of the subspecies used to be classified as separate species, which is probably why there’s so much confusion.

    1. Miriam Gieske

      Update: to add to the confusion, apparently taxonomists, or at least some of them, now once again consider the stinging nettles that are native to North America to be a separate species from the ones that are native to Europe.

      So, there are stinging nettles native to North America, and some taxonomists call them Urtica dioica (subspecies gracilis and holosericea), while others call them Urtica gracilis (subspecies gracilis and holosericea). There are also stinging nettles native to Europe, which everyone seems to agree is Urtica dioica (sometimes with “subspecies dioica” appended).

      To make matters worse, the European species or subspecies has been introduced to parts of North America (mostly the East Coast, as far as I can tell).

      See Henning et al. 2014 “Weeding the Nettles II: A delimitation of “Urtica dioica L.” (Urticaceae) based on morphological and molecular data, including a rehabilitation of Urtica gracilis Ait.”

  12. Tina from Magickal Spot

    Wow, I never knew stinging nettles could be so fascinating! This article opened my eyes to their remarkable natural history. Thanks for sharing!

  13. Lorna

    Thanks for the great article. I have lived on a farm in SW WA most of my life of 71 years so have used nettles for tea and food dishes along with many other herbs. Organic Permaculture is the focus. An auto accident from 1972 left my legs deformed and they didn’t bother me until the last six years. Being in bed became painful. My Naturopath gave me shots, I tried hot pepper lotion, CBD cream plus oral CBD with a touch of THC and nothing broke the morning and night pain in bed that interrupted my sleep.
    I was inspired by a Foot surgeon who helped my mom in the 2010’s. Although not into integrative healing particularly he suggested hot pepper lotion to break the pain. He explained our bodies make Substance P in the healing process but if the pain becomes chronic our brains get confused and we become over alert regarding pain and it can get intense. Being around nettles I looked up their use and again thank you for your article. In July of 2023 I gently tapped my bad knee with 4 nettle leaves. Oh my goodness what was I thinking? Not long after I noticed a release of pain in my knee. Putting nettle on my knee morning and night has taken away most of my pain and more importantly I don’t have joint pain in bed. I still like to get up at five in the morning but now I sleep better. I may overdo my back or hips so if they cry out, I tap them with nettles too. There is a bit of tingling sensation but it is a distraction and my body can relax and feel the joint pain ease. It has been an absolute godsend, I highly recommend it but caution to research nettles and start out slowly in case of sensitivity. For me the lingering tingle is way more acceptable than not being able to find a position in bed where I can escape pain. NETTLES are great. To add one more suggestion, of a PT approach I have added now in October 2023 is the book by Alan Gordon, “The Way Out.” It brings ways to help observe and deal with pain mentally so we don’t fear the pain itself. Excellent ideas to go along with the use of nettles.
    Lorna

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