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Post by Deleted on Apr 30, 2009 9:53:09 GMT
The large stinging hairs are hollow tubes with walls of silica making them into tiny glass needles. The bulb at the base of each hair contains the stinging liquid that includes formic acid, histamine, acetylcholine and 5- hydroxytryptamine (serotonin). The tips of the glassy hairs are very easily broken when brushed, leaving a sharp point, which easily pierces the skin to deliver the sting. |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 30, 2009 12:09:16 GMT
 how to identify this plant and not do what I did the first time I saw and tried to weed out with my bare hands.OUCH! |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 30, 2009 12:21:06 GMT
 Is also a source of vitamins and is widely used in the treatment of rheumatism,fever,upset stomach and colds when made into a tea. Boil the plant and the nettles fall off. Strain and voila! |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 30, 2009 12:44:12 GMT
Northern France is absolutely loaded with nettles, so I learned to recognize them at a very young age. In my grandparents' village, they were harvested from the fields in large quantities, boiled in a big pot outside and fed to the pigs.
Nettle soup is supposed to be good, but I have never had any.
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Post by happytraveller on Apr 30, 2009 12:46:39 GMT
Our forests are full of them.
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Post by bixaorellana on Apr 30, 2009 14:55:40 GMT
I read somewhere that on long marches, Roman soldiers would lash themselves with bundles of nettle leaves for energy. Sheesh -- leave your endorphins alone! There is a very common small-tree-sized herb here called chaya. It's rather pretty & tropical looking & used in a variety of ways. On a visit to Hierve el Agua, I saw many of them in flower around the bungalows and grabbed a branch to examine the flowers more closely. Ouch! This was not the chaya planted for ingestion, but a close relative, the "mala mujer" (bad woman). The don't look all that similar in the photos, but believe me in real life they were almost identical, with mala mujer being more attractive because of the white dots. Nature evolved mala mujer to protect itself in exactly the same way as nettles, although they are not related: Mala mujer (Cnidoscolus angustidens) is a Mexican roadside plant covered with stinging hairs. Like nettles, the sharp, glistening hairs (called trichomes) readily penetrate your skin and release some very irritating chemicals into your epidermal layer. Species in the related genus Tragia) inject a painful crystal of calcium oxalate into the skin. The trichomes of true nettles in the genera Urtica and Urera inject your skin with several stinging chemicals, including histamine, acetylcholine and 5-hydroxytryptamine.above quote from this website (#18, w/interesting links below that) |
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Post by patricklondon on May 7, 2009 15:01:27 GMT
I was brought up in the belief that around nettles there would always be dock-leaves growing - these being firm and fleshy, they make an excellent tool to scrub the stung area with to relieve (or least distract from) the itch and inflammation. But I assume anything of the same consistency would do as well.
Nowadays we are encouraged to leave a bit of space in gardens for nettles, to serve as food and shelter for butterflies and other insects.
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Post by bixaorellana on May 7, 2009 15:54:03 GMT
Dock does not grow around here, but plantain ( Plantago) does. It also works quite well in alleviating the itching & stinging of insect or plant irritation. No poultice needed -- just scrub the affected area with a fresh leaf. I remembered reading about nettle tea for gardens. Here is an interesting discussion on it. |
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