Stats

Lifespan: Perennial
Size: Medium
Diet: Photosynthetic
Biome: Temperate woodland
Range: Eurasia
Movement: Sessile
Breeding: Seeds
Defense: Spines
Status: Common

About

The great stinging nettle is a perennial herb covered in hollow silica-tipped stinging hairs that inject a cocktail of formic acid, histamine, and serotonin on contact. Despite its sting, it has been harvested for centuries as food, fibre, and medicine across temperate regions worldwide.

Life cycle

1.
seed
A dormant seed waits for water and warmth before germinating.
2.
sprout
A first shoot emerges with cotyledon leaves and a tap root reaching down.
3.
sapling
A young plant grows true leaves and a stem or trunk, putting on height each season.
4.
mature
Fully grown, flowering or fruiting at adult size.

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Taxonomy

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Rosales
Family: Urticaceae
Genus: Urtica
Species: Urtica dioica