Grande Ortie, Ortie Dioïque

More info for the term: prescribed fire

Hamilton's Research Papers (Hamilton 2006a, Hamilton 2006b)and Metlen and
others' Research Project Summary provide information on prescribed fire
and postfire response of many plant species including stinging nettle.

stinging nettle
American stinging nettle
European stinging nettle
hoary nettle

More info for the terms: cover, herbaceous

Mallards and gadwalls prefer tall, dense nesting cover provided by
graminoids and herbaceous vegetation including stinging nettle [42].
Stinging nettle is a component of roughs which are good cover for
sharp-tailed grouse in Wisconsin [16].  Although listed as generally
poor wildlife cover by Dittberner and Olson [10], stinging nettle cover
is listed as fair for small nongame birds and mammals in Utah.

More info for the terms: achene, dioecious, epigeal, forb, fruit, monoecious

Stinging nettle is an erect, perennial, rhizomatous forb which forms
dense clonal patches.  Stout stems grow 3.3 to 6.6 feet (1-2 m) tall.
Leaves, stems, and flowers are sparsely to moderately covered with
stinging hairs.  Two subspecies, American stinging nettle and hoary
nettle, are native; the third subspecies in North America, European
stinging nettle, was introduced in the mid-1800's.  American stinging
nettle and hoary nettle are predominantly monoecious whereas European
stinging nettle is typically dioecious.  The fruit is an achene [1,51].
Stinging nettle has both epigeal and shallow subterranean rhizomes [35].

American stinging nettle is the most common subspecies in temperate
North America and occurs throughout Canada and much of the United
States.  In the East and Midwest, American stinging nettle occurs as far
south as Virginia, Missouri, and Kansas; in the West, it occurs south
along the coast to central California and south in the Rocky Mountains
to Mexico.  European stinging nettle occurs primarily along the Atlantic
Coast from Newfoundland south to Georgia and Alabama.  It is recently
adventive westward in Missouri, Oklahoma, Oregon, and Alaska.  Hoary
nettle is native to the western United States.  It occurs from eastern
Washington south through California to Mexico, east to northern Arizona
and extreme northwestern Colorado, and north to western Wyoming and
southwestern Montana [51].

More info for the terms: fire regime, litter, seed

Stinging nettle survives fire by sprouting from rhizomes.  Removal of
litter by fire may encourage stinging nettle growth and provide suitable
germination sites for seed.  However, frequent fire during the growing
season may reduce stinging nettle [43].

FIRE REGIMES :
Find fire regime information for the plant communities in which this
species may occur by entering the species name in the FEIS home page under
"Find FIRE REGIMES".

More info on this topic.

More info for the term: hemicryptophyte

Hemicryptophyte

More info for the terms: facultative wetland species, seed, woodland

Stinging nettle occurs in moist sites along streams, coulees, and
ditches, on mountain slopes, in woodland clearings, and in disturbed
areas.  Stinging nettle generally grows on deep, rich soils [1,51].
American stinging nettle occurs from sea level to subalpine elevations.
Hoary nettle occurs from sea level to 10,000 feet (3,000 m) elevation in
the southern part of its range and from 2,300 to 6,600 feet (700-2,000
m) elevation in the northern part of its range [51].  Stinging nettle
persists in northern climates, spreading vegetatively rather than by
seed [40].

Stinging nettle occurs both in wetlands and in uplands.  It is a
facultative wetland species [36].  Stinging nettle is present in the
seasonally flooded emergent zone of oxbow lakes along the Connecticut
River [22].  Persistent flooding kills stinging nettle [20].

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This species is known to occur in association with the following cover types (as classified by the Society of American Foresters):

    63  Cottonwood
   222  Black cottonwood-willow
   228  Western redcedar
   229  Pacific Douglas-fir
   230  Douglas-fir-western hemlock
   234  Douglas-fir-tanoak-Pacific madrone
   237  Interior ponderosa pine
   243  Sierra Nevada mixed conifer
   244  Pacific ponderosa pine-Douglas-fir
   245  Pacific ponderosa pine
   246  California black oak
   249  Canyon live oak
   250  Blue oak-foothills pine
   255  California coast live oak

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This species is known to occur in the following ecosystem types (as named by the U.S. Forest Service in their Forest and Range Ecosystem [FRES] Type classification):

   Stinging nettle probably occurs in most ecosystems.

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This species is known to occur in association with the following plant community types (as classified by Küchler 1964):

More info for the term: forest

   K002  Cedar-hemlock-Douglas-fir forest
   K005  Mixed conifer forest
   K011  Western ponderosa forest
   K012  Douglas-fir forest
   K013  Cedar-hemlock-pine forest
   K030  California oakwoods
   K037  Mountain-mahogany-oak scrub
   K093  Great Lakes spruce-fir forest
   K095  Great Lakes pine forest
   K096  Northeastern spruce-fir forest
   K097  Southeastern spruce-fir forest
   K098  Northern floodplain forest
   K102  Beech-maple forest
   K113  Southern floodplain forest

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This species is known to occur in association with the following Rangeland Cover Types (as classified by the Society for Range Management, SRM):

More info for the terms: forb, woodland

   201  Blue oak woodland
   202  Coast live oak woodland
   203  Riparian woodland
   217  Wetlands
   409  Tall forb
   413  Gambel oak
   422  Riparian
   805  Riparian

More info for the term: low-severity fire

Stinging nettle is probably top-killed by fire.  Perennating buds on
shallow rhizomes probably survive low-severity fire.

More info for the term: cover

The wildlife food value of stinging nettle is listed as poor [10],
probably because of stinging hairs on the foliage.  Stinging nettle
provides cover for small animals [10,16,42].

More info for the terms: forest, marsh, woodland

Stinging nettle is a common understory component of riparian communities
[30,50,52].  In the Santa Ana Mountains along the southern California
Coast, American stinging nettle occurs in the understory of a riparian
woodland dominated by California sycamore (Platanus racemosa), white
alder (Alnus rhombifolia), and red willow (Salix laevigata) [48].  In
Kern County, California, hoary nettle is abundant in the understory of a
Fremont cottonwood (Populus fremontii), Pacific willow (Salix
lasiandra), and red willow community [23].  In Montana, American
stinging nettle occurs in a western redcedar (Thuja plicata) community
in a ravine dissected by spring run-off channels [18].

Stinging nettle occurs in and adjacent to marshes and meadows.  In North
Dakota, stinging nettle occurs in a sedge (Carex spp.)-dominated zone
between an emergent marsh and upland meadow [29].

Stinging nettle occurs in moist forest communities in the southern
Appalachian Mountains [4].

More info for the term: forb

Forb

More info for the terms: cover, invasive species, marsh

Stinging nettle is considered a weedy, invasive species.  It is listed
as a noxious weed in several Canadian provinces.  Stinging nettle hairs
are irritating to human skin, and the pollen is a major contributor to
summer hay fever [1].

When distributed through the soil by disturbance such as mechanical
cultivation, stinging nettle rhizomes can establish dense new colonies.
However, repeated plowing will eliminate stinging nettle.  When mowed,
stinging nettle sends up numerous bushy shoots [1].

Spraying with 2,4-D herbicide substantially reduced stinging nettle
cover in a central Wisconsin marsh [19].

Stinging nettle is used by foresters as an indicator of high soil
fertility [38].

Insects, micro-organisms, and viruses associated with stinging nettle
are listed [1].

Stinging nettle is very nutritious.  Stinging nettle hay contains 21 to
23 percent crude protein, 3 to 5 percent crude fats, 35 to 39 percent
non-nitrogen extracts, 9 to 21 percent crude fiber, and 19 to 29 percent
ash.  Amino acids in dehydrated stinging nettle meal are nutritionally
superior to those of dehydrated alfalfa (Medicago sativa) meal [1].

     AL  AK  AZ  AR  CA  CO  CT  DE  GA  ID
     IL  IN  IA  KS  KY  LA  ME  MD  MA  MI
     MN  MS  MO  MT  NE  NV  NH  NJ  NM  NY
     NC  ND  OH  OK  OR  PA  RI  SC  SD  TN
     TX  UT  VT  VA  WA  WV  WI  WY  DC  AB
     BC  MB  NB  NF  NT  NS  ON  PE  PQ  SK
     YT  MEXICO

Boiled stinging nettle leaves are edible and can be substituted for
spinach [1,11].

Stinging nettle fibers were used by Native Americans in the Northwest to
make twine, fishing nets, and rope.  Stinging nettle has many medicinal
uses [45].

Stinging nettle is unpalatable to livestock [10].

More info on this topic.

Stinging nettle sends new shoots up each year from perennating buds on
rhizomes.  Maximum root development occurs in the spring prior to
flowering.  American stinging nettle flowers from late May to October,
European stinging nettle flowers from June to October, and hoary nettle
flowers from July to October.  In northern areas, flowering is condensed
into a shorter time period, ending in late August [1,51].

More info for the terms: competition, cover, density, forest, frequency, litter, marsh, rhizome, seed, wildfire

Stinging nettle regenerates from buried rhizomes and/or seed after fire.
Stinging nettle bloomed during the first postfire growing season on a
ravine site in western Montana that burned in mid-July.  Although
stinging nettle thrives on disturbance, its rate of spread after the
fire on this site may have been slowed by competition from orchard grass
(Dactylis glomerata) [8].

One year after a wildfire in northern Utah, stinging nettle was present
at low frequency on plots in a burned Gambel oak (Quercus gambelii)
brush community but was not present on adjacent unburned plots [30].

In southern California, large amounts of sediment were deposited in a
riparian zone after a July fire in a riparian forest dominated by coast
live oak (Q. agrifolia), white alder, and California sycamore.  Stinging
nettle emerged from the sediment and was a common species on lower and
middle terraces in the riparian zone during the 3 years following the
fire [9].

Stinging nettle occurred in a central Wisconsin marsh dominated by
goldenrod (Solidago spp.), butter-and-eggs (Linaria vulgaris), white
meadowsweet (Spiraea alba), and grasses.  Fire was prescribed on two
sites in the spring 1 week after snowmelt.  Approximately 96 percent of
the dry surface fuels were eliminated.  Vegetation was inventoried
during the growing seasons before and after the fires.  Stinging nettle
prefire and postfire covers are as follows [19]:

Prefire cover Postfire cover
Site 1              2.0%      1.8%
Site 2             less than 0.5%      2.5%


Stinging nettle shoot density and biomass after fire depends on the
season of burn.  Stinging nettle shoots per square meter and biomass
measured the first growing season after each fire in a common reed
(Phragmites australis) stand in Delta Marsh, Manitoba, are as follows:

      Density                         Biomass
              (nonseedling shoots/sq m)             (grams/sq m)

Control          6.7 36.2
Summer fire 18.4 33.9
Fall fire  4.9 10.3
Spring fire 18.8 52.9

Stinging nettle biomass was less than in the control the first growing
season after the fall fire.  The authors suggest that the stinging
nettle rhizome buds may have succumbed to winterkill after the fall fire
because there were no dead standing canes to trap snow and insulate the
soil.  Stinging nettle biomass was greater than in the control in the
first growing season after the spring fire.  Stinging nettle is capable
of fast growth and, with the removal of common reed litter by fire, was
able to compete with the common reed.  Stinging nettle biomass did not
differ substantially from the control 1 year after the summer fire.
There were more shoots per meter after the summer fire but the shoots
were smaller than in the control, possibly because resources were depleted
by regrowth immediately after the summer fire [43].

Stinging nettle seedlings established at a density of 6.9 seedlings per
square foot (76.8/sq m) 1 month after the summer fire.  Only a few
seedlings established after the fall and spring fires [43]. 

More info for the terms: ground residual colonizer, herb, rhizome

   Rhizomatous herb, rhizome in soil
   Ground residual colonizer (on-site, initial community)
   Initial-offsite colonizer (off-site, initial community)

More info for the terms: forest, habitat type, marsh, rhizome, seed

Stinging nettle reproduces vegetatively and by seed.

Stinging nettle produces abundant seed.  Plants growing in the shade
produce approximately 500 to 5,000 seeds per shoot and plants growing in
full sunlight produce 10,000 to 20,000 seeds per shoot.  Seeds remain on
the plant until frost when they fall to the ground.  Seeds are not
dormant and can germinate 5 to 10 days after maturity [1]. 

Buried stinging nettle seeds persist an undetermined length of time in
the seedbank [7,26,33,34,44].  Stinging nettle seedlings emerged from
unflooded substrate samples collected from the Delta Marsh, Manitoba
[33].  Stinging nettle seeds, mostly buried less than 2 inches (5 cm)
deep, occurred in the seedbanks of three forest communities in Idaho
[26].  Stinging nettle seedlings emerged from soil samples collected
from a ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa)/common snowberry (Symphoricarpos
albus) habitat type in Washington.  April collections contained 48
stinging nettle seeds per square foot (533/sq m) and October collections
contained 6 seeds per square foot (67/sq m).  Most stinging nettle seeds
were buried less than 4 inches (10 cm) deep, but some were present to 10
inches (25 cm) [34].  Stinging nettle seeds have germinated in the
greenhouse after 10 years of storage [1].

Stinging nettle spreads and reproduces vegetatively by rhizomes.
Seedlings initiate vegetative spread in the first growing season.  A
rhizome planted in late summer can spread into an 8.2 foot (2.5 m)
diameter area by the following year [1].

Stinging nettle has a strong shoot thrust.  The ability to generate
mechanical force enables the plant to extend its shoots vertically into
dominant aerial positions [6].

More info on this topic.

This species can be found in the following regions of the western United States (according to the Bureau of Land Management classification of Physiographic Regions of the western United States):

    1  Northern Pacific Border
    2  Cascade Mountains
    3  Southern Pacific Border
    4  Sierra Mountains
    5  Columbia Plateau
    6  Upper Basin and Range
    7  Lower Basin and Range
    8  Northern Rocky Mountains
    9  Middle Rocky Mountains
   10  Wyoming Basin
   11  Southern Rocky Mountains
   12  Colorado Plateau
   13  Rocky Mountain Piedmont
   14  Great Plains
   15  Black Hills Uplift
   16  Upper Missouri Basin and Broken Lands

More info on this topic.

More info for the terms: competition, fern, forest, seed

Stinging nettle is probably intermediate in shade tolerance.  It occurs
and produces seed in shady habitats but produces more seed in full sun
[1].

Stinging nettle establishes colonies from which other plants are
virtually excluded.  Competition from grass may limit the spread of
stinging nettle clones [1]

Stinging nettle invades disturbed sites.  It invades forest plantations
in Great Britain when bracken fern (Pteridium aquilinum) is artificially
removed [5].  Stinging nettle colonizes wetland sites when water levels
drop [20,33].  It is an increaser on periodically flooded areas along
Idaho streams [37].

Urtica gracilis Ait. [13,24,25]
Urtica holosericea Nutt. [53]
Urtica procera Muhl. [13,54]

The currently accepted scientific name for stinging nettle is Urtica
dioica L. (Urticaceae) [15,17,21,28,49]. Urtica dioica is a polymorphic
complex in North America with a confusing taxonomic history; many
varieties and subspecies have been described including an introduced
subspecies from Europe. Although formerly separated into four species
[13], most recent authors agree that the North American plants cannot be
distinguished at the species level from each other and from European
plants. The following three subspecies are currently recognized
[3,17,21,28,51]:

Urtica dioica subsp. dioica (European stinging nettle)
Urtica dioica subsp. gracilis (Ait.) Selander (American stinging nettle, California nettle)
Urtica dioica subsp. holosericea (Nutt.) Thorne (hoary nettle)

Stinging nettle may be tolerant of heavy metals.  It is an abundant
species on metal-contaminated soil on the floodplain of a former Rhine
River estuary in the Netherlands [31].