Medicinal Herbs and plants; Stinging Nettles

 

 

 

 THE STINGING NETTLE

The stinging nettle is commonly found throughout the UK and the US as well as other parts of the world. It has the Latin name Urtica Dioica and is part of the nettle family (Urticaceae) of the genus Urtica. It usually flowers between June and September; the flowers are arranged in long catkins and are coloured green, red or white. These include separate 'male' and 'female' flowers.

The plant is usually about about 1 metre high with leaves covered in tiny hairs, which, when brushed past give Urticaria, or A-nasty-red-rash-which-itches-like-hell, for a while. Some nettle stings are more severe, Urtica urentissima, for example, is found in Java, and can cause a rash for a whole year and may, in extreme cases, cause death.

If you do brush past and get stung, it is vitally important not to scratch the rash. If you have no shop bought lotions to apply  try washing the sting out, or use a natural remedy - the leaves from the dock plant or even the juice from the nettle.

Dead nettles of the genus Lamium come in white, purple & yellow varieties, but do not sting. They are protected from harm from looking like the stinging nettle.

The best advice about cooking with stinging nettles comes from ‘’Identifying and Harvesting Edible and Medicinal Plants in Wild (and Not So Wild) Places’’, which says:

Clean and chop nettles wearing rubber gloves. Once you’ve cooked them a little, the stingers are deactivated, and the plant becomes wonderfully edible.

Nettles should be washed and placed in a saucepan, dripping wet, for 20 minutes to cook.

Other Uses for Nettles

Nettles have more use than you might normally expect...

§         The University of Plymouth has proved that the stinging nettle can have a beneficial effect on arthritis sufferers (osteoarthritis), confirming folk law dating back to Roman times, which suggested flogging with nettles (Urtication) as a cure for chronic rheumatism.

§         Nettle products include soup, tea, nettle pudding, porridge, beer, Yarg cheese (which is wrapped in nettles), paper, cloth dye (which is yellow, and comes from the root)……………….this one I really want to try!!

§         Nettles provide a source of food for caterpillars, some of which feed exclusively on the nettle. It is also a food source for a wide variety of insects, including ladybirds, and, according to hdra.org.uk, supports 107 species.

§         Nettles act as an accelerator for compost, and a rich source of nitrogen and minerals. Plus it's a source of vitamin A and C……………..glad I found this one out, my compostor needs a bit of accelerating.

§         Nettles are alleged to be anti-inflammatory (and generally helpful with all skin conditions), antiparasitic, antiseptic and a digestive stimulant It may cure rheumatism, arthritis muscle wastage problems, inflammation and, bizarrely, head lice. If it fails to remove the lice, it could still stimulate hair growth. The nettle has been used medicinally by the Greeks and later the Romans. In fact, it has been alleged to cure almost everything.

The nettle does not shed enough pollen to be a major cause of hay fever!!

 

Information from

http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A1310950

 

 

 above.............nettle soup

The Nettle - Urtica dioica

How did the nettle get its name?

The latin name of the plant dioica means 'two houses' - this refers to the fact that the male and female flowers are normally carried on separate plants. It is possible that the 'nettle' is derived from Noedl meaning a needle - referring to the stinging mechanism in the nettle leaves. Others suggest that it comes from the Latin nere and other similar old European verbs meaning to sew.

What's in the sting?

The stinging structure of the nettle is very similar to the hypodermic needle although it predates that man-made invention by millions of years!

It used to be thought that the main constituent of the sting was formic acid -Although formic acid is present in the sting, recent research has shown that the main chemicals are histamine, acetylcholine and 5-hydroxytryptamine (serotonin). A fourth ingredient has yet to be identified.

Food from nettles

People have eaten the nettle for many centuries and at one point would have been relished as springtime treat! Pepys wrote in his diary of having eaten ‘...some nettle porridge, which was very good’.

above..........dried powdered nettle

Nutritionally the nettle is an excellent source of calcium, magnesium, iron and numerous trace elements as well as a range of vitamins. The young shoots can be used in soups and stews and in place of spinach. The Northumberland Cheese Company even produces a nettle cheese!

Not only humans have benefited from the consumption of the nettle. When dried and turned into a hay the nettle loses its sting and becomes palatable to livestock. In Sweden the nettle is sometimes cultivated for this purpose and fed to milk cattle because of the increased milk production that results.

Horse breeders have often added nettle seeds to horse feeds to give the animals a sleek coat.

Treatments from nettles

As well as the nutritional value people have exploited the medicinal properties of the stinging nettle.

Culpeper recommended the use of nettles to ’...consume the phlegmatic superfluities in the body of man, that the coldness and moisture of winter has left behind“. He also prescribed the juice of the leaves as a treatment for gangrenes and scabies.

Native Americans used the fresh leaves to treat aches and pains. European herbalists used the leaves in a similar fashion to treat gout and arthritis.

Surprisingly, although the nettle sting is highly irritant, once dried to neutralise the acid the leaves are a natural anti-histamine and also have anti-asthmatic properties.

The dried powdered leaves can also be used to staunch the flow of blood from small cuts.

In recent times the nettle has also been found to be effective in the treatment of benign prostate hypertrophy.

 

Clothing from nettles

The nettle can be used to produce a fine fibre that can be spun and woven into cloth.

Cloth has been woven from the fibres in mature nettle stems for many centuries - frequently used for tablecloths and sheets in Scotland. It is, however, difficult to ascertain the extent to which it was used as the term nettlecloth came to be used for all manner of fine material whether made from nettle or not.

Being similar in texture to those materials produced by flax and hemp fibres the cloth also became widely used by the German army during the First World War when there was a shortage of cotton for the soldiers' uniforms. Some of the reports may have been propaganda but is clear that nettle fibre was used alongside that of the nettles' Asian cousin, Ramie ( Boehmeria nivea ).

The juice of the stems and leaves has been used to produce a permanent green dye, while a yellow dye can be obtained from boiling the roots. Both colours have been used extensively in Russia.

Powdered stinging nettles are excellent for treating eczema and other itchy skin conditions. Nettles are used as a natural, deep cleanser especially useful for oily skin. Lotion made with stinging nettles can be used to wash irritated skin. Stinging nettles powder can be used in bath soaks, body wraps, facials, soaps and salves. Make a poultice to treat external bleeding or itchiness. Nettles are said to encourage hair growth and can be added to hair wraps. Powdered stinging nettles can also be used to achieve a natural green color in soaps. You can add the nettles powder directly to your formulations or make an oil infusion and use the strained oil.

INFORMATION FROM

http://www.nettles.org.uk/nettles/lore.asp

 

 

 

 

 

 

 The videos are....................

 

1. HOW TO GATHER NETTLES WITHOUT GETTING STUNG

 

2. GATHERING WILD FOOD IN CENTRAL PARK