Flora Focus: Stinging Nettles

This plant tends to be overlooked because it's so common. Most consider it a weed, and something to get rid of, even more so because of the painful sting you receive if you brush against it. But, it's painful sting hides a tasty and useful side. I've long known that you can make nettle soup and nettle beer (a friend did make some last year and said it was 'rather lively'), here's a few more facts about this oft scorned plant that I've discovered.

Culinary: the leaves are rich in minerals and vitamins A and C can be used as a preserving wrap around cheese (Cornish Yarg being the most famous), wrapping leaves around stored apples and pears keeps off pests, wrapping them around vegetables and fruits can keep the skins moist for a few months. The young, fresh leaves (carefully picked with gloved hands) can be eaten in salads (after washing to take the sting out), as a substitute for spinach and making herbal infusions - which some claim are good for digestion, as a diuretic and astringents.

Practical applications include it being used from Bronze Age times through to the nineteenth century to make fabric, the paper and textiles industry have historically made use of the plant, and is has been spun into ropes, apparently. In cosmetics, the young leaves can be used in deep cleansers and mixed with hair preparations. In the garden the nitrogen rich leaves make good compost, which helps to break down woody materials. The whole plant can be used for green/yellow dyes. There's scientific debate about this, but some claim to have medical evidence that compounds found in nettles may help to reduce inflammation in cases of arthritis.

The nettle plant favours disturbed soils of any type and archaeologists use their presence as an indicator of past activity on the land when conducting surveys. The stinging hairs found on the stem and leaves act like hypodermic needles; they're called trichomes (from Greek meaning hair), and inject histamine plus other chemicals when brushed against -it's this and the cocktail of acids that inject you which cause the burning sting. Grab a dock leaf or aloe vera and rub on the affected area for a natural remedy if you get stung.

If you're tempted to pull up a whole patch of nettles then please think hard - the larvae of the Peacock Butterfly harvest the nettles exclusively as their food source. The plants also support many other animals including the Tortoiseshell Butterfly and ladybirds, and the seeds provide food for birds in late summer.

If you've got any more facts about nettles let me know.