Nettle

Perennial or annual, monoecious or dioecious herbaceous plants , with opposite leaves . The leaves are whole, with serrated edges, serrate or 3-5 dissected; stipules paired, sometimes fused. The leaves of the plant, like the stems, are often covered with burning hairs .

Inflorescences are dichotomous cimic, falsely spike-shaped. Flowers stamen with rudimentary ovary or pistillate. The perianth is four-membered with unchanging lobes of the stamen flowers. In pistillate flowers, the perianth has two internal lobes growing after flowering and two external changing lobes. Ovary superiorly single- ovary , with one ovule, stigma sessile or on a short column . Four stamens , opposite to perianth lobes. The fruit is a flat nut , compressed, enclosed in the remaining perianth.

Many species of nettle are protected from herbivores by means of burning hairs located on all parts of plants. Each hair is a large cell , in shape resembling a medical ampoule . The upper part of the "ampoule" extends beyond the surrounding cells of the outer surface of the plant. This tip contains silicon salts. Even with a small impact, the tip breaks, the sharp end penetrates under the skin, and the contents of the cell enter the body of the animal. The juice of the cells contains histamine , choline, and formic acid ^[4] , the effect of which is manifested by the sensation of a sharp “ burn ” at the place of touching the plant.

The burns of most nettle species are relatively harmless, however, several tropical species are known, the touch of which is very painful, and can even lead to death ( Urtica ferox , nettle tree from New Zealand).

A number of species are used in medicine and can be used in food ( Urtica dioica , Urtica urens ) and livestock feed.

• Nettles are used to make salads , soups , cabbage soup , sauces , toppings for pies , and they are also salted and fermented . Young tender inflorescences are brewed in tea , dried.
• Nettle is also used for hair care, a nettle broth helps with hair loss.

Since ancient times, nettle has been used for the manufacture of a variety of items of our everyday life:

• Strong sails were sewed from nettles in Russia and in other countries, as well as strong bags, chuvals and coolies from coarse nettle fabric, “wrenches”. In Japan, nettle harness in combination with silk was the main material in the manufacture of expensive samurai armor, shields were made from stiff stems, and bowstrings were made from strong nettle fiber, twisted and grated with wax ^[5] .
• Fiber of almost any kind of nettle has excellent qualities that allow nettles to compete on equal terms with such well-known raw materials as flax and cotton . European “weed” nettle species provide raw materials for such a light, warm and hygienic tissue as “ cheviot ” ^[6] . The hero of the novel by Victor Hugo, Jean Valjean, having escaped from hard labor, becomes the manufacturer of this particular fabric. But there is still Chinese nettle , " ramie ." The fabric produced from this plant, in its properties, approaches silk ^[7] . Nettle has been known to humanity as a raw material for the production of clothing for millennia. But there are peoples who prefer nettle tissue over all others. With what reverence Russia and Europe belong to flax, China , Indonesia , the Philippines , Korea , and Japan treat the nettle with the same love. Individual parts of the Korean national costume are simply never sewn from any other fabric ^[8] .
• In floriculture, spraying with nettle infusion is used to prevent powdery mildew and to control aphids .
  Preparation: 500-700 g of fresh or 200 g of dry raw materials are insisted for 5 days in 5 l of cold water ^[9] .

According to the database of The Plant List , the genus includes 53 species ^[3] :

• The annual "Nettle Festival" has been held since 2002 in the village of Krapivna, Shchekinsky District, Tula Region . Nettle is depicted on the coat of arms of this ancient Russian village (in the past - a county town): "In the golden field, six nettle branches laid by a star named after this city".
• In Andersen 's fairy tale Wild Swans , the heroine weaved the nettle shirts to the brothers to free them from the witching spell.
• Nettle more often than other plants serves as a raw material for the industrial production of chlorophyll , used in the food, pharmaceutical and perfume industries ^{[10] [11] [12]} .

• Nettle (a genus of plants) // Great Soviet Encyclopedia : [in 30 vol.] / Ch. ed. A.M. Prokhorov . - 3rd ed. - M .: Soviet Encyclopedia, 1969-1978.