Urtica sykesii
Common names
native nettle, bush nettle
Biostatus
Native
Category
Vascular
Structural class
Herbs - Dicotyledons other than Composites
Simplified description
Delicate, usually much-branched herb covered in prominent stinging hairs. Leaves green, deeply incised, triangular-ovate with subcordate leaf bases. Plants bearing both male and female flowers.
Flower colours
Green, Yellow
Detailed description
Erect, perennial, rhizomatous herb 0.15–0.60 m with elongating rhizomes, aerial stems usually unbranched. Stem indumentum of very few stinging hairs with pluricellular base c. 0.2–0.5 mm overall and erect setae 1.3–2.2 mm long and very few simple trichomes 0.2–0.3 mm long. Leaf lamina 20–60 × 20–50 mm triangular to triangular-ovate; surface very sparsely pubescent with short simple trichomes 0.2–0.5 mm long and very few stinging hairs (abaxially only on the veins), adaxially with punctiform cystoliths; leaf base truncate to subcordate; margins regularly dentate with 9–10(–12) teeth on each side; leaf apex acute to acuminate; lamina light greenish; stipules free (4 per node) 2–10 mm long; petioles 30–70 mm long. Plants monoecious; lowest inflorescences pure male, upper ones pure female. Staminate flowers with tepals c. 1.2–1.8 mm long. Pistillate flowers with short tepals 0.5–0.7 mm long and long tepals 0.9–1.1 mm long, sparsely pubescent, esetulose. Inflorescence 10–20 mm. Mature fruit with longer tepals 1.3–1.5 mm long, achenes subcircular in outline, rounded at base and at the tip, laterally flattened, c. 1.2–1.5 × 0.8–1 mm.
Similar taxa
Distinguished from other New Zealand Urtica by the triangular-ovate leaves with subcordate bases, which are 20–60 mm long; usually moderately to densely setose (hairy) on the stems and leaves; and by the monoecious flowers, with male flowers arranged below the female flowers
Distribution
Indigenous. Australia and New Zealand. In New Zealand widespread in the North and South Islands though scarce north of Auckland. Seemingly confined to Victoria in Eastern Australia.
Current conservation status
The conservation status of all known New Zealand vascular plant taxa at the rank of species and below were reassessed in 2022-2023 using the New Zealand Threat Classification System (NZTCS) – more information about this can be found on the NZTCS website. This report includes replaces all previous NZTCS lists for vascular plants. Previous assessments can be found here.
- Conservation status of vascular plants in Aotearoa New Zealand, 2023. 2024. Peter J. de Lange, Jane Gosden, Shannel P. Courtney, Alexander J. Fergus, John W. Barkla, Sarah M. Beadel, Paul D. Champion, Rowan Hindmarsh-Walls, Troy Makan and Pascale Michel Department of Conservation. Source: NZTCS and licensed by DOC for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence.
2023 | Not Threatened | Qualifiers: SO
Detailed taxonomy
Family
Synonyms
Previously confused with Urtica incisa Poir. See under ‘Taxonomic Notes’ below
Taxonomic notes
Urtica sykesii is the species previously treated (incorrectly it transpires see Grosse-Veldmann et al. 2016) by New Zealand botanists as Urtica incisa Poir., an Australian species that is sparingly naturalised in New Zealand (where it had previously, incorrectly, been treated as U. dioica subsp. gracilis (Webb et al. 1988)).
Endemic taxon
No
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
Ecology
Flowering
Throughout the year
Fruiting
Throughout the year
Propagation technique
Easily grown from rooted pieced, stem cuttings and fresh seed. Flourishes in a shady, moist soil. Inclined to be short-lived. The impact of the stinging hairs seems to vary from plant to plant and in the way people react to them. Generally this species has a less painful sting than our other indigenous Urtica
Other information
Etymology
urtica: From the Latin verb urere which means “to burn”
sykesii: Named after William Russell Sykes (1927-2018) an English born botanist who emigrated to New Zealand in the late 1960s and worked for the DSIR Botany Division and DSIR Land Resources. Sykes specialised in the taxonomy of cultivated plants, naturalised plants and made studies of the South Pacific Islands, especially the Kermadec and Cook Island groups.
NVS code
The National Vegetation Survey (NVS) Databank is a physical archive and electronic databank containing records of over 94,000 vegetation survey plots - including data from over 19,000 permanent plots. NVS maintains a standard set of species code abbreviations that correspond to standard scientific plant names from the Ngä Tipu o Aotearoa - New Zealand Plants database.
URTSYK
Chromosome number
2n = 24
Previous conservation statuses
The conservation status of all known New Zealand vascular plant taxa at the rank of species and below were reassessed in 2022-2023 using the New Zealand Threat Classification System (NZTCS) – more information about this can be found on the NZTCS website. This report includes replaces all previous NZTCS lists for vascular plants. Previous assessments can be found here.
- Conservation status of vascular plants in Aotearoa New Zealand, 2023. 2024. Peter J. de Lange, Jane Gosden, Shannel P. Courtney, Alexander J. Fergus, John W. Barkla, Sarah M. Beadel, Paul D. Champion, Rowan Hindmarsh-Walls, Troy Makan and Pascale Michel Department of Conservation. Source: NZTCS and licensed by DOC for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence.
2017 | Not Threatened | Qualifiers: SO
2012 | Not Threatened
2009 | Not Threatened
2004 | Not Threatened
Regional conservation statuses
The regional threat classification system leverages off the national assessments in the NZTCS, providing information relevant for the regional context. Otago conservation status information is sourced from the “Regional conservation status of indigenous vascular plants in Otago” Jarvie S et al. (2024) report.
Otago: 2024 | Regionally Not Threatened | Qualifiers: TL
Referencing and citations
References and further reading
Grosse-Veldmann, B.; Conn, B.J.; Weigend, M. 2016: Weeding the nettles IV: A redefinition of Urtica incisa and allies in New Zealand and Australia, including the segregation of two new species Urtica sykesii and U. perconfusa. Phytotaxa 245(4): 251-261.
Webb CJ, Sykes WR, Garnock-Jones PJ 1988. Flora of New Zealand. Vol. IV. Botany Division, DSIR, Christchurch.
Attribution
Fact Sheet prepared by P.J. de Lange (14 February 2016). Description based on Grosse-Veldmann et al. (2016).
NZPCN Fact Sheet citation
Please cite as: de Lange, P.J. (Year at time of access): Urtica sykesii Fact Sheet (content continuously updated). New Zealand Plant Conservation Network. https://www.nzpcn.org.nz/flora/species/urtica-sykesii/ (Date website was queried)