Nettle {Urtica dioica}

The herb known as the nettle is a small plant reaching about two to three feet in height with an erect stem; it bears dark green leaves that are marked by serrated margins. The nettle gives out small and inconspicuous flowers when in bloom. The nettle has now been designated by international botanists as the Urtica dioica L. and the herb belongs to the plant family Urticaceae. There are many sub-species of this plant and the American variety differs from the typical European sub-species of the nettle called Urtica dioica, the main difference between these two sub-species of the same plant lying in the fact that the European plant bears both male and female flowers – it is dioecious. This classification is also challenged at the same time by certain botanists…