Urtica fissa seed

LATIN NAME: Urtica fissa

COMMON NAME: Stinging Nettle

The stinging nettle is a handsome, upright, leafy, perennial herb of the moist, rich places, and its fine, oval or heart-shaped, sharply toothed leaves and its small, inconspicuous, greenish flowers in the long, dangling clusters have made it a familiar and remarkable plant of the wayside. It grows as an upright, leafy, perennial herb, reaching up to one metre and a half or so, with the upright, square, leafy stems bearing the opposite, oval or heart-shaped, pointed, sharply toothed leaves that carry the fine, stinging hairs and, through the summer, the small, inconspicuous, greenish flowers in the long, dangling, branched clusters, followed by the small, dry, many-seeded fruits. It is a species of the flowering plant in the nettle family, and it is native to the moist, rich places of the eastern Asia, while it grows in the open, moist, rich places, and it is known as the stinging nettle.

In the nettle family it is the stinging, leafy herb of the wayside, a plant whose touch everyone knows and whose value the butterflies and the gardeners both understand.

Scientific Research & Plant Biotechnology

The stinging hairs of the nettle are a small wonder of the plant science, and the papers on the little mechanism that delivers the tingling compounds when the leaf is touched have kept the botanists busy for generations. The food scientists have looked at the young leaves as a fine, green vegetable of the spring, and the ecologists have counted the butterfly caterpillars that feed on the leafy growth. The nettle is best handled with gloves and is best appreciated as a subject of study rather than a casual remedy, and the growers of the wildlife garden keep it in their corners for the butterflies.

Ecological & Economic Value & Wide Applications

In the wildlife corner, the stinging nettle is the leafy plant that feeds the butterflies. Its small, greenish flowers feed the insects, the dense, leafy growth gives cover to the small creatures, and the leaves are a treasured food of the caterpillars of the fine butterflies. The young leaves have served as a green vegetable of the spring, and the strong fibres have served the crafts of the many lands. It grows well in the moist, rich ground of the open, sheltered spot. Leafy, wayside and butterfly-feeding.

These are easy, willing seeds — scatter them over the surface of pots of moist, rich soil and just press them in without covering them, keep the pots in a bright, sheltered spot and water them gently, and they’ll be up before long.