Small nettle

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Small nettle
Small nettle (Urtica urens)

Small nettle ( Urtica urens )

Systematics
Eurosiden I
Order : Rose-like (rosales)
Family : Nettle family (Urticaceae)
Tribe : Urticeae
Genre : Nettles ( urtica )
Type : Small nettle
Scientific name
Urtica urens
L.

The small nettle ( Urtica urens ), also called pus nettle , is a type of plant from the genus of nettles ( Urtica ). It is widespread in Eurasia and is a neophyte in some areas of the world .

description

Illustration by Urtica urens
Small nettles are often gregarious in groups. Unlike the nettle, these are individual plants and not a single plant connected by the rhizome .
Leaf: the terminal tooth is as big as the other teeth.

The small nettle grows as an annual herbaceous plant and reaches heights of 10 to 60 centimeters. The simple, dark green leaf blade is usually less than 5 cm long and ovate-elliptical with a wedge-shaped to blunt blade base. The leaf margin is serrated. The end tooth is no longer than the posterior teeth.

The flowers of the small nettle are single- sexed ( monoecious ). The inflorescences are usually shorter than the petiole. The flowers are unisexual. A single-seeded nut fruit is formed.

The number of chromosomes is 2n = 24.

ecology

The small nettle is a summer annual plant . It burns more than the great nettle ( Urtica dioica ). In Central Europe it is an archaeophyte , but today it is abducted worldwide in temperate and warm temperate areas ( cultural companion ). There is wind pollination . She is a warmth germ .

Locations

The small nettle is found scattered in the weed corridors of rubble sites or in gardens, in vegetable crops, at dung sites, especially in villages. It prefers nutrient-rich, extremely nitrogen-rich soils.

According to Ellenberg , it is a half-light plant , a freshness indicator , a pronounced nitrogen indicator and a class character of the ruderal societies and related arable and garden weed societies (Chenopodietea). In Central Europe it often occurs in the Urtico-Malvetum from the Sisymbrion association. In the Allgäu Alps, it rises to an altitude of 1000 meters.

Stinging hairs of the small nettle

use

pharmacology

The healing indications are similar to those of the great nettle ( Urtica dioica ). The same parts of the plant are also used: the leaves, the roots and, in folk medicine, the fruits (nettle seeds), i.e. the whole plant.

It is used for hives-like diseases of the skin, gout , kidney diseases, diseases of the musculoskeletal system and allergies . In anthroposophy , it is usually used in combination with arnica for burns , insect bites and sunburn .

nutrition

The small nettle can be used in many ways in the kitchen. The young shoots (harvest: April / May) are cooked in vegetable dishes, in fresh vegetable juice, raw and finely chopped in herb butter, in salads, as a sandwich, spinach, in herb sauces, in batter and as a dry spice. The green seeds (harvest: June / July) can be used as a topping on bread or roasted and the ripe ones (September) as an additive to wine. The leaf meal can in turn be used as powder for snuff or as a dry spice.

Other use

The small nettle, like the large nettle, is suitable for producing chlorophyll and was therefore used for this purpose in the past. However, it is not suitable for fiber production such. B. the Siberian hemp nettle , the reed nettle or the great nettle.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Werner Rothmaler (greeting), Eckehart J. Jäger (ed.): Exkursionsflora von Deutschland. Volume 2. Vascular plants: base volume . 19., arr. Edition, Spektrum Akademischer Verlag, Munich 2005, ISBN 3-8274-1600-0 , p. 156.
  2. ↑ a b Henning Haeupler, Thomas Muer: picture atlas of the fern and flowering plants of Germany . Published by the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (=  The fern and flowering plants of Germany . Volume 2 ). 2nd corrected and enlarged edition. Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart (Hohenheim) 2007, ISBN 978-3-8001-4990-2 .
  3. ↑ a b c Erich Oberdorfer : Plant-sociological excursion flora for Germany and neighboring areas . 8th edition. Verlag Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart 2001, ISBN 3-8001-3131-5 . Page 322.
  4. ↑ Ruprecht Düll , Herfried Kutzelnigg : Pocket dictionary of plants in Germany. A botanical-ecological excursion companion to the most important species . 6th, completely revised edition. Quelle & Meyer, Wiebelsheim 2005, ISBN 3-494-01397-7 .
  5. ↑ Heinz Ellenberg : Vegetation of Central Europe with the Alps in an ecological, dynamic and historical perspective (=  UTB for science. Large series . Volume 8104 ). 5th, heavily changed and improved edition. Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart (Hohenheim) 1996, ISBN 3-8252-8104-3 .
  6. ↑ Erhard Dörr, Wolfgang Lippert : Flora of the Allgäu and its surroundings. Volume 1, IHW, Eching 2001, ISBN 3-930167-50-6 , p. 430.
  7. ^ Siegmund Seybold (Ed.): Schmeil-Fitschen. Interactive flora of Germany. Seeing - determining - knowing. The key to the flora . CD-ROM, version 2.0. Quelle & Meyer, Wiebelsheim 2004, ISBN 3-494-01368-3 .
  8. ↑ Dietrich Frohne: Medicinal Plant Lexicon . 7. completely rework. Edition. Scientific publishing house, Stuttgart 2002, ISBN 3-8047-1897-3 .
  9. ↑ Wolfgang K. Fischer: Which medicinal plant is that? Kosmos, Stuttgart, 2005, ISBN 3-440-10078-2 , p. 188.
  10. ↑ Steffen G. Fleischhauer: Encyclopedia of edible wild plants. 1500 plants from Central Europe. AT Verlag, Aarau 2003, ISBN 3-85502-889-3 , pp. 253f.
  11. ↑ Siegfried Schlosser, Lutz Reichhoff, Peter Hanelt: Wild Plants Central Europe. Use and protection. Deutscher Landwirtschaftsverlag, Berlin 1991, ISBN 3-331-00301-8 , p. 466.

Web links

Commons : Small nettle ( Urtica urens )  - album with pictures, videos and audio files