Urtica incisa
Scrub or Stinging Nettle
Upright, scrambling perennial herb with scattered stinging hairs on stems and leaves.
Additional information
- FamilyUrticaceae
- StoreyLower storey
- Size0.6-1 m high
- Plant groupingHerbs & Groundcovers <1m
- LeavesPairs of dark green, lance-shaped to triangular broadly-toothed leaves, paler below, to 12 cm x 7 cm, on long leaf stalks.
- Flower colourGreenish
- Flowering timeAll year especially winter to early summer
- FlowersSmall male and female flowers in separate loose spikes along stems.
- Bird attractingNo
- Butterfly attractingFood plant for caterpillars
- Frog habitatNo
- Growing conditionsMoist soils in gullies and on margins and clearings of rainforests, wet open forests and swamps. Full sun to full shade.
- Garden useAn adaptable plant which colonises moist disturbed sites. Plant with care as the sting is painful.
- Commercially availableNever
- Conservation statusLocally common within its preferred growing conditions
- Aboriginal Use Medicine - leaves, food - leaves
- Related speciesEasily distinguished from the non-stinging nettle, Parietaria debilis, by the paired leaves. P. debilis may occur, or has occurred, within the Shire but would be very rare.
Photo Gallery
Photographer/s: Marilyn Bull ©
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