Nettle City

Nettle is the common name for between 30-45 species of flowering plants of the genus Urtica in the family Urticaceae, with a cosmopolitan though mainly temperate distribution. They are mostly herbaceous perennial plants, but some are annual and a few are shrubby.

 

The most prominent member of the genus is the stinging nettle Urtica dioica,[citation needed] native to Europe, Africa, Asia, and North America. The genus also contains a number of other species with similar properties, listed below. However, a large number of species names that will be encountered in this genus in the older literature (about 100 species have been described) are now recognized as synonyms of Urtica dioica. Some of these taxa are still recognized as subspecies.

 

Urtica nettles are food for the caterpillars of numerous Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths), such as the tortrix moth Syricoris lacunana and several Nymphalidae.

 

Most of the species listed below share the property of having stinging hairs, and might be expected to have similar medicinal uses to the stinging nettle. The stings of Urtica ferox, the ongaonga or tree nettle of New Zealand, have been known to kill horses, dogs and at least one human.

The nature of the toxin secreted by nettles is not settled. The stinging hairs of most nettle species contain formic acid, serotonin and histamine; however recent studies of Urtica thunbergiana implicate oxalic acid and tartaric acid rather than any of those substances, at least in that species.

The Giant Stinging Tree is a rainforest tree of eastern Australia. It occurs from Tathra, New South Wales to Imbil in south eastern Queensland. Very common at Dorrigo National Park and other rainforest walks in eastern Australia. The habitat of the Giant Stinging Tree is sub tropical, warm temperate or littoral rainforest, particularly in disturbed areas, previously flattened by storms or cyclones.

 

The Giant Stinging Tree is often disliked by bush walkers and nature lovers because of the severe reaction of the stinging hairs to human skin. Even so, the tree is an important member of the ecosystems of eastern Australian forests. The stinging hairs occur all over: on leaves, twigs, branchlets, fruit and other parts of the tree. The sting is considered more severe than Shining-leaved Stinging Tree, but not as severe as the Gympie Stinger.

 

Minor stings can last for an hour or two. However, severe stinging can last for months. First aid for the sting is to apply wax hair-removal strips and then yank them off to remove the hairs (Hurley, 2000). Dendrocnide stings have been known to kill dogs and horses that have brushed against them.

Marina Hurley, a leading researcher of stinging trees, found that the only way she could handle the plant to study it was with heavy welding gloves. Seek medical advice if badly affected by the Stinging Tree.

 

A medium to large sized tree with a buttressed base. Sometimes over 40 metres tall and in excess of 4 metres wide at the butt.

 

The trunk can be fluted or flanged. The outer bark is grey and smooth, with minor corky markings. The trunk and buttresses are shaped in even curves. The leaves are alternate and toothed. Heart shaped and very large in positions of shade, exceeding 30 cm in length and a similar width. The sun leaves are smaller. The leaves are replete with stinging hairs, and are eaten by various insects and mammals, such as the chrysomelid beetle.

 

Flowers appear from November to April, forming in short panicles. The fruit is a purple or blackish nut, maturing from March to August. The flesh is edible, but the danger of stinging hairs precludes human consumption. Fruit eaten by many rainforest birds, including the Regent Bowerbird and Green Catbird.