Big nettle

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Big nettle
Great nettle (Urtica dioica)

Great nettle ( Urtica dioica )

Systematics
Eurosiden I
Order : Rose-like (rosales)
Family : Nettle family (Urticaceae)
Tribe : Urticeae
Genre : Nettles ( urtica )
Type : Big nettle
Scientific name
Urtica dioica
L.
Flowering Urtica dioica , female plant
Stinging hairs on the petiole of a Urtica dioica , the heads can be made out
A stinging hair (enlarged 40 ×)
Micrograph of stinging hairs - (a) is still intact with the rounded tip sealed; in (b) the tip broke off by touching it, creating a sharp injection device
Large eyrie, clonal-unisexual female

The great nettle ( Urtica dioica ) is a species of nettle ( Urtica ) in the stinging nettle family (Urticaceae).

description

The great nettle is a dioecious , perennial herbaceous plant that reaches heights of 30 to 300 centimeters. It is rooted up to 70 centimeters deep. The upright, unbranched or branched stem is strongly angular and has a diameter of 3 to 5 millimeters. About its vigorous rhizome to form spurs and can thus large clumps zoom proliferate. The leaves and stems are reinforced with stinging hairs reinforced with silica . In addition, there are also short, gray bristle hairs and small four-cell glandular hairs, often with round pearl glands at the base.

The leaves are opposite, the petioles are usually less than a third as long as the heart-shaped, pointed blade . This is dull, dark green on the top and hairy on the underside, between 6 and 20 centimeters long and 2 to 13 centimeters wide. The leaf margin is serrated, rarely double serrated. The linear-awl stipules are free.

The stalk of the bract is usually shorter than the inflorescence, a panicle . The radially symmetrical flowers are inconspicuous greenish or brownish. The male flowers are erect, the perigone split to the middle, the tip at the base widest. The female flowers hang or are bent back. The outer bracts are linear to narrow spatulate or lanceolate and 0.8 to 1.2 millimeters long, the inner bracts are ovate to broadly ovate, 1.4 to 1.8 millimeters long and 1.1 to 1.3 millimeters wide. The ovary is on top.

The fruit is an egg-shaped to broadly egg-shaped, 1 to 1.3 (rarely up to 1.4) millimeters long and 0.7 to 0.9 millimeters wide nut fruit . The seeds have a thousand grain weight of 0.14 grams and are frost-germinating .

The flowering period extends from July to October.

The number of chromosomes is 2n = 26, 48 or 52.

Occurrence

The greater nettle is native to all of the northern hemisphere away from the tropics and arctic regions. It is less common in southern Europe and North Africa, but regionally common. In North America, the plant is widespread in both Canada and the United States and is found in every province or state (with the exception of Hawaii); it can also be found in northernmost Mexico. It is particularly strong in the rainy areas of the Pacific Northwest .

The plant is a typical nitrogen pointer and was often excessively promoted by nutrient input ( eutrophication ) and drainage of alluvial forests , especially in the fringing area of the forests. Likewise, nettles show a strong association with the nitrogen-enriched (former) whereabouts of humans and animals. In the Allgäu Alps, the species rises at the foot of the Krottenspitzen in Bavaria up to 2100 m above sea level. The greater nettle is a species of the Artemisietea class in Central Europe, but also occurs in societies of the Atropetalia or fagetalia and the Salicion albae or Alno-Ulmion associations.

Pointer values ​​according to Ellenberg

factor value scale Designation / explanation
Light number X 1-9 indifferent behavior
Temperature number X 1-9 indifferent behavior
Continental number X 1-9 indifferent behavior
Humidity number 6th 1-12 between freshness and humidity indicators
Response number 6th 1-9 between moderate acid pointer and weak acid to weak base
Nitrogen number 8th 1-9 pronounced nitrogen pointer
Life form hp, H - Semi-parasite (?), Hemicryptophyte

ecology

The peacock caterpillar eating a nettle leaf

The fruit ripens from September to October, the spread of the fruits takes place in a variety of ways as balloon or wing flyers, as a swimmer or as an adherent in animal fur.

The great nettle is a food plant for numerous caterpillars. Species such as the little fox and peacock butterfly are monophagous , so they feed almost exclusively on it. It is also an important food plant for the spotted nettle bug . The roots are food for the big hop rootworm .

Fruit bodies of the rust fungus Puccinia urticata

The stinging nettle serves as an intermediate host for the rust fungus Puccinia urticata , on which it develops a conspicuous, yellow-orange, caterpillar-shaped fruiting body , before switching to sedges ( Carex ) for further development .

ingredients

Herbs and leaves contain numerous ingredients, the most important of which are scopoletin and β-sitosterol , as well as 1 to 2% flavonoids (quercetin, kaempferol glycosides) and 1 to 4% silicates. The root also contains 0.1% of a specific lectin , the so-called "Urtica dioica agglutin". The fuel juice contains histamine , acetylcholine and serotonin . The plant is rich in vitamins A and C, iron, potassium, manganese and calcium.

Systematics

The stinging nettle was in 1753 by Linnaeus in Species Plantarum as Urtica dioica L. first published . The specific epithet refers to the dioeciousness of the plant. In Central Europe, two subspecies of the great nettle are distinguished:

  • Urtica dioica subsp. dioica : leaf blades with stinging hairs, more or less hairy, especially on the nerves. The lowest inflorescence arises on the 7th – 14th. Stem knot. It occurs in fresh to moist herbaceous vegetation, floodplain and alder forests and ruderal areas. The distribution area corresponds to that of the species. The number of chromosomes is 2n = 48 or 52.
  • Urtica dioica subsp. subinermis (R. Uechtr.) Weigend (Syn. Urtica dioica subsp. galeopsifolia auct. non (Wierzb. ex Opiz) Chrtek ): leaf blades without stinging hairs, but densely hairy at least below. The lowest inflorescence arises on the 13. – 20. Stem knot. The distribution area probably includes sub-Mediterranean to temperate Europe. In Central Europe it is seldom found in alder forests and on the marshy river banks of the Rhine, Main and Danube; the distribution is little known. In the UK it is restricted to the Fens of Cambridgeshire and Lincolnshire . The number of chromosomes is 2n = 26.

use

The leaves of the nettle , rich in protein, vitamins and minerals, can be cooked as nettle spinach or used as a salad , just like the flowers and seed heads . The young shoots in particular produce nutritious, tasty wild vegetables . The leaves no longer sting if they have either been dried, watered, boiled or mechanically processed, e.g. B. by kneading in the palm of your hand or by rolling a rolling pin.

After the plant has flowered and seed production begins, calcareous cystolites form in the leaves , which can be irritating to the kidneys and urinary tract .

Nettle is used regionally in polenta and puree dishes as well as to prepare pesto and as an addition to special cheeses. Nettle soup is traditionally widespread in Northern and Eastern Europe.

In Albania in particular, nettles are used as part of the filling of Börek dumplings ( Byrek me hithra ).

Cultivation

For the targeted cultivation of nettles, either sowing or planting rhizomes or early young plants in the field takes place in May. The nettle can be grown for one or more years. If the leaves are to be used, harvesting is carried out with cutters when the plants are in full bloom between August and October. When cultivating for fiber production, one must wait until the end of flowering before harvesting. Between 20 and 40 t of wet weight (FM) or 2.5 to 4 t of drug can be achieved per hectare of cultivation area .

Pharmacology and cosmetics

Large nettle in the form of the leaf drug (Urticae folium)

Fresh or dried nettle leaves ( Urticae folium ), dried nettle herb ( Urticae herba ) and dried roots ( Urticae radix ) are used as remedies . They are used as teas, extracts or ready-made preparations.

A slight diuretic effect has been proven for the leaves or the herb when used internally ; internally and externally, they are also used against rheumatic diseases. Extracts from the root are used to relieve urination problems in the early stages of benign prostatic hyperplasia ; which of the active ingredients contained is responsible for this is still unclear. In folk medicine and homeopathy there are other uses whose effects have not been proven.

In the cosmetics industry, preparations made from nettle roots or leaves are used as an additive to shampoos, hair lotions and hair restorers, as they strengthen the blood circulation in the scalp.

Fiber usage

The stinging nettle was an important fiber plant up to the 18th century because of its bast fibers, especially suitable for solid fabrics, nets or ropes, for example, but it was forgotten because of its lack of industrial processing. A convariety bred in the first half of the 20th century with a high fiber content, the fiber nettle Urtica dioica convar. fibra , was rediscovered in the 1990s as part of the newly awakened interest in alternative fiber plants and cultivated further. In Germany, among other things, this fiber nettle was cultivated under contract for the Stoffkontor company in Lüchow until its bankruptcy , which uses the fibers for textile production. This is now being continued by NFC GmbH Nettle Fiber Company. A Finnish project uses pure wild types for this purpose.

Oil use

A valuable oil can be extracted from the seeds.

Other use

Because of the silica it contains, nettle decoctions are often used as a plant tonic against sucking insects. As manure , nettles are also used for fertilization.

The herb is also suitable (withered or as hay) as fodder for pigs, cattle, sheep, especially poultry. Chopped up nettles are traditionally part of chick rearing feed. Nettle is used as feed for the breeding of Roman snails.

Temporary ban on use in France

In France, the decree of July 1, 2006 made the sale, possession and manufacture of unauthorized plant protection products illegal. The broadcaster Arte showed the documentary Nettle, the unloved plant? - Nettle war in France.

On November 21, 2006, the National Assembly's Economic Committee approved a draft amendment to the Water Act to allow the use of "natural hand-made preparations" such as nettle fertilizer.

Only with the ordinance of April 18, 2011 with the title “Authorization for the placing on the market of homemade nettle liquid manure for use in plant protection” was its use formally legalized again.

swell

literature

  • Erich Götz: Identify plants with the computer. Flora of Germany . CD-ROM. Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart (Hohenheim) 2001, ISBN 3-8252-8168-X .
  • Rudolf Schubert, Eckehart J. Jäger, Klaus Werner (eds.): Exkursionsflora von Deutschland . Founded by Werner Rothmaler . Volumes 1-4 (1994-1996). Gustav Fischer, Jena a. a., ISBN 3-334-60831-X , pp. 150 .
  • David E. Boufford: Urticaceae . In: Flora of North America Editorial Committee (Ed.): Flora of North America North of Mexico . Volume 3: Magnoliophyta: Magnoliidae and Hamamelidae . Oxford University Press, New York / Oxford a. a. 1997, ISBN 0-19-511246-6 , pp. 402 (English, online ). (Section description)
  • Gustav Bredemann: The big nettle - research on its cultivation for fiber production. Akademie-Verlag, Berlin 1959.

Individual evidence

  1. a b c Erich Oberdorfer : Plant-sociological excursion flora for Germany and neighboring areas . With the collaboration of Angelika Schwabe and Theo Müller. 8th, heavily revised and expanded edition. Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart (Hohenheim) 2001, ISBN 3-8001-3131-5 , pp. 321 .
  2. Gustav Bredemann : The large nettle Urtica dioica L. - Research on its cultivation for fiber production. With an appendix about their use for medicinal and animal feed as well as technical purposes by Kurt Garber. Akademie-Verlag, Berlin 1959.
  3. Margareta Mathwieser, Irmtraud Thaler, Manfred Gailhofer: Die Perldrüsen von Urtica dioica L. In: Phyton (Horn). Volume 27, No. 1, 1987, pp. 99-113 ( PDF file ).
  4. a b c d e f Klaus-Ulrich Heyland, Herbert Hanus, Ernst Robert Keller (ed.): Oil fruits, fiber plants, medicinal plants and special crops (=  Handbook of Plant Cultivation . Volume 4 ). Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart (Hohenheim) 2006, ISBN 3-8001-3203-6 , pp. 364-365 .
  5. Chen Jiarui, Ib Friis, C. Melanie Wilmot-Dear: Urtica . In: Wu Zhengyi, Peter H. Raven, Deyuan Hong (Eds.): Flora of China . Volume 5: Ulmaceae through Basellaceae . Science Press / Missouri Botanical Garden Press, Beijing / St. Louis 2003, ISBN 1-930723-27-X , pp. 82 (English, online ).
  6. SPECIES: Urtica dioica , US Forest Service
  7. a b c 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 .
  8. Erhard Dörr, Wolfgang Lippert : Flora of the Allgäu and its surroundings. Volume 1, IHW, Eching 2001, ISBN 3-930167-50-6 , p. 430.
  9. ^ Gaden S. Robinson, Phillip R. Ackery, Ian J. Kitching, George W. Beccaloni, Luis M. Hernández: HOSTS - a Database of the World's Lepidopteran Hostplants. ( Full list online )
  10. Carl von Linné: Species Plantarum. Volume 2, Lars Salvius, Stockholm 1753, p. 984 ( digitized versionhttp: //vorlage_digitalisat.test/1%3Dhttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.biodiversitylibrary.org%2Fopenurl%3Fpid%3Dtitle%3A669%26volume%3D2%26issue%3D%26spage%3D984%26date%3D1753~GB%3D~ IA% 3D ~ MDZ% 3D% 0A ~ SZ% 3D ~ double-sided% 3D ~ LT% 3D ~ PUR% 3D ).
  11. a b Eckehart J. Jäger, Klaus Werner (Ed.): Exkursionsflora von Deutschland . Founded by Werner Rothmaler. 10th edited edition. tape 4 : Vascular Plants: Critical Volume . Elsevier, Spektrum Akademischer Verlag, Munich / Heidelberg 2005, ISBN 3-8274-1496-2 .
  12. Maximilian Weigend: Die Erben Pokornys - A contribution to the delimitation of the clans Urtica galeopsifolia and Urtica pubescens in Central and Eastern Europe. In: Hoppea. Volume 66, 2005, pp. 101-118.
  13. Juliet Day, Tim Upson (Ed.): The Guide. Cambridge University Botanic Garden. Extended new edition. Cambridge University Botanic Garden, Cambridge 2012, p. 62.
  14. ^ R. Elwyn Hughes, Peter Ellery, Tim Harry, Vivian Jenkins, Eleri Jones: The dietary potential of the common nettle . In: Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture . 31, No. 12, 1980, pp. 1279-86. doi : 10.1002 / jsfa.2740311210 . PMID 6259444 .
  15. Nettle dumplings (in Albanian) ( Memento of the original from October 24, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.hermesnews.org
  16. Recipe: nettle dumplings (in Albanian)
  17. a b Klaus-Ulrich Heyland (Ed.): Special plant cultivation . 7th completely revised edition. Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart 1996, ISBN 3-8001-1080-6 , p. 264 (use of the root in the cosmetics industry).
  18. Stoffkontor Kranz AG has filed for bankruptcy. October 25, 2012, accessed January 11, 2020 .
  19. Imprint - NFC GmbH Nettle Fiber Company. Accessed January 11, 2020 (German).
  20. an article on the Tela-botanica page , accessed on May 22, 2014.
  21. VO on the use of plant manure (French)

Web links

Commons : Large nettle  album with pictures, videos and audio files