Photo by Randy A Nonenmacher on iNaturalist · CC BY 4.0 · photographed specimen identified as Urtica dioica dioica, a close relative
Stinging nettle
Urtica dioica
- When
- Typically April – September — April, May, June, September. Earlier in the south, later in the north.
- Where it grows
- Rich disturbed ground, old barnyards, streambanks, hedgerows.
- How to know it
- Opposite, deeply toothed, heart-based leaves on a square stem, covered in stinging hairs. The sting is the identification.
- Look-alikes
- Wood nettle and clearweed are harmless relatives. No dangerous double.
- Harvest and use
- Gloves and scissors; take the top four leaves of young plants. Cooking or drying kills the sting completely. Soup, tea, anywhere spinach goes.
Found in these regions
- Boreal North & Taiga
- Boreal Forest & Shield
- Acadian Forest & Atlantic Coast
- Great Lakes & St. Lawrence Lowlands
- Northeast Atlantic Coast & Piedmont
- Appalachian Highlands
- Central Hardwoods & Interior Plateaus
- Southeastern Piedmont & Coastal Plain
- Gulf Coast & Mississippi Lowlands
- Florida Peninsula
- Prairies & Great Plains
- Western Mountains & Interior Plateaus
- Pacific Maritime
- Mediterranean California
- Deserts & Dry Basins
- Hawaiʻi & the Tropics
Is it ready near you?
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Also ready in September
FruitAugust – SeptemberBeach plum
Prunus maritima
Low sprawling shrub in the sand, with dusty purple plums about the size of a marble.
How to know it & its look-alikes →Photo: Tom Norton · CC BY 4.0
NutSeptember – OctoberBlack walnut
Juglans nigra
Tennis-ball green husks lying under a tall tree with long compound leaves; the husk stains everything it touches brown.
How to know it & its look-alikes →Photo: Sandy Wolkenberg · CC BY 4.0
FruitAugust – SeptemberChokecherry
Prunus virginiana
Long drooping clusters of dark red-to-black cherries on a small tree with finely toothed oval leaves.
How to know it & its look-alikes →Photo: Tom Norton · CC BY 4.0
Educational information only. Never eat a wild plant or mushroom identified from a single photograph or description — confirm with a regional field guide or an experienced forager, and know the poisonous species in your area first.