Urtica dioica subsp. dioica
Common names
perennial nettle
Biostatus
Exotic
Category
Vascular
Structural class
Herbs - Dicotyledons other than Composites
Flower colours
White
Detailed description
Stems 0.6 to 2 m tall, slightly branched at the top, slender, rigid, square, and covered with numerous stinging hairs. Leaves dark green, coarse, opposite (7.5 to 15 cm long) pointed with saw tooth margins, sometimes rounded at the base, covered with stinging hairs. Male and female flowers borne separately but on the same plant, in axillary clusters.
Habitat
Generally in damp rich soil. Farmland, fence rows, thickets, stockyards, waste places and roadsides.
Conservation status
Not applicable
Detailed taxonomy
Family
Urticaceae
Ecology
Year naturalised
1870
Origin
N. temperate regions
Life cycle
Perennial. Reproduces by seed and underground rootstocks. Seed pod 1-seeded. Seeds small, egg-shaped, slightly rough, yellow to greyish-tan.
Other information
Etymology
urtica: From the Latin verb urere which means “to burn”
dioica: Two plants