Collecting Hazards

Nope, not the usual snakes, poison ivy, ticks or wasps nesting under rocks but stinging nettles.

I've been hiking most of my life and never experienced the "burn" so to speak but the other day, while scouting out an historic iron mine in Pennsylvania, I must have come into contact with some. The sensation lasted three days. Anyone else come into contact with this stuff? Nasty. To be honest, I prefer poison ivy.

evil, vile, demon weed from hades...
to answer your question, David: yes

and go figure, they are supposed to make great greens if ya boil 'em up

Don't knock nettles!!! A botanist told me they grow quartz xls on the leaf edges and use them to cut to skin and let in the toxins. Also wonderful butterflies use them as their food plant. Handle with care!!!

The Rogerley Quarry abounds with them. Lovely green foliage. My experience with brushing into them is that the burning sensation only last a couple of hours. Far less unpleasant than a bout of poison oak.

Someone should write an article on what these things look like (leaf drawings, photos, etc) and their geographical distribution (/ habitat)!!

I have never seen a stinging nettle, know how to recognize poison ivy, but not poison oak or sumac. I would definitely like to learn about them.

Philippe.

In Italy we call this plant "ortica" and it's diffused in every part of our territory...it's terrible plant like a little fire on the skin...

To be honest, I never saw the plant. I was climbing up a steep embankment and grabbed onto something for leverage. It also brushed against my lower leg. To make matters worse, I took a direct hit on a skin graft on my right hand. The only thing I could do was laugh because the pain was so bad.

I looked at various web sites about pain duration and noted that several hours seems to be the norm. Being abnormal, I was not surprised that I had a different experience.:D

Rob, I'm all for Butterfly nectaring sites and host plants for them-I have an extensive Butterfly and Hummingbird garden. But like Maggie said, this stuff is evil.

Here is a good place to start with information on stinging nettle:

[en.wikipedia.org]

For a positive take on this "demon weed from Hades" check this article out:

[www.vitalitymagazine.com]

From personal experience, I collect dried stinging nettle stems in the fall and peel off the outer
fibers for the length of the stem. Twisted and braided these strands make some of the most
indestructible and strong twine found in the woods and there are no stings involved. Used by
the Ojibwe of Ontario and the Great Lake states as fish net material for hundreds of years.

Ooooooo, Hate'em , Hate'em, Hate, em!!!!! I Grew up in Pennsylvania, and while I sure recognise them now, my first encounter came while running though a huge patch of them in short-short cut offs. Let me say, the cautious trip back out of that patch was a pretty nasty event too! Damn them (AND the seventies sense of fashion)!

MRH

had a number of painful experiences with nettles as a child, the most painful, at the age of eight or nine, drinking my great uncles nettle beer on the sly. Not sure what hurt the most; the hangover the next day or tanning from my auntie.

Agreed nettles are very dangerous for lots of different reasons
Cheers
Jon

Jon; Your post got me thinking. Since Australia seems to have critters and plants that make our(Atlantic Coast of United States) flora and fauna seem tame, I googled Stinging Nettle in Australia and came up with this tree to be avoided-The Giant Stinging Tree

[en.wikipedia.org]

Ever see one?

I have seen the stinging trees (only common in some small areas), but luckily the leaves are mostly easy to avoid as they are generally a lot higher off the ground than nettles. Imported weeds like blackberries and gorse are a bigger hazard, though some of our prickly wattles (eg "Dead Finish") are also impenetrable and inextricable.

Regards,
Ralph

Hi David,

I live too far South to encounter the Stinging Tree thankfully, have heard of them and intend to stay well clear. There are a number of plants locally that can cause unpleasant reactions but nothing that severe.

The incident with the nettle beer happened in New Zealand where I was born.

While Australia has plenty of nasties, the same basic safety rules apply here as anywhere else.

Cheers
Jon

Stinging Nettles? Delicious!!!

When young, they're a lot better than spinach, and don't sting at all after cooking.

I've heard that if you grab nettles really fast and hard, you can crush the hairs instead of letting them sting you (see here, for example). Not something I'd want to test though. They are common in forests and swamps in western Washington, at least near inhabited areas, but I've never been stung. They seem to be much less common, if not absent, in drier places like eastern Washington and central California.

Hi David:
Thanks for the info about the nettles. I've lived in PA all my life and don't recall having come in contact with them. Of course, now that I know about them I'm sure they'll find a way to make an introduction.
I have to give you credit. I love field collecting, but you've started to become the Indiana Jones of this area. You could not pay me enough to hit all the old mines during this time of the year. The stingling nettles and other nasties is why.
The first frost of the year will have me back out with a vengence.
Cheers,

Greg

Aaaah, the demon plant! I have met it numerous times in Europe, did not like it at all, but... I recently planted the darned thing in my garden. It grows like weed, so I need to keep it under control. I collect and dry it - it's a herb and supposedly a good one. It contains lots of microelements/vitamins and silicic acid, which may be the reason for "quartz crystals". It's good for the skin, hair, nails and it's supposed to be good for anemics. I'm guessing the stinging comes from formic acid - it does feel like ant bites! I like cold nettle tea - not as bad as I thought. Someone showed me that the leaves can be eaten - RAW. I thought he was nuts until I tried it - you need to pick up the leaf gently and from underside, fold several times, crush it - and it's ready to go. Crazy, huh?

Nettle Soup, eh? Perhaps I'll make a batch and surprise the wife. And maybe I can add some young Cicadas-I hear they are tasty when young also-just like shrimp!LOL

I encountered a flying nasty today. I was walking down a rock dump when I came face to face with what I though was a Dragonfly. So we had a starring contest for about thirty seconds until I got bored and moved out of the way. Turns out it was a Thread Waisted Wasp retrieving a paralyzed caterpillar. It grabbed the caterpillar, ran with it thirty feet and stuffed it down a burrow and sealed it up. I'm just pleased the creature didn't see fit to sting me.

I took my son to a butterfly farm with lots of exotics. Then I saw a nettle patch behind and there were caterpillers feeding on it. Lots of Nymphids eat the stuff so I was excited. Part of growing up is feeding caterpillars and growing them to butterflies. Sadly I missed the oportunity with my daughter, but here was a chance with my son. So I asked the owner if I could collect a few. To my horror he said to take a dozen or more!!! So I took a half dozen. I didn't need more than a few trips to a nettle patch I'd been watching, before they pupated. We got 2 Milbert Tortoise Shells and 4!!! solitary wasps. Some damn wasp had laid an egg in each of those 4 caterpillers. The wasp larva carefully avoided eating the caterpillar's vital organs until it pupated and then ate everything!!!

I love this botany/biology lesson and related stories!! I hope it continues. . .