Edible wild plants. Stinging nettle (Urtica dioica L.)

Nettle family - Urticaceae.

Stinging nettle (lat.Urtica dioica ) is a perennial dioecious herbaceous plant with long rhizome. The stems are erect, bluntly tetrahedral, grooved, with hard, stinging hairs. The leaves are opposite, ovate-lanceolate, large-fingered, covered with stinging hairs. The flowers are small, unisexual, green, with a simple four-parted perianth. Male flowers with four stamens, female ones - with one pistil, sessile stigma. The inflorescences are axillary, long, spike-shaped, pendulous. The fruit of stinging nettle is an ovoid nut. Plant height 30-150 cm.

Stinging nettle (lat.Urtica urens ) is a monoecious annual herbaceous plant with a branched stem. The leaves are ovate-elliptical, sharp, incised-serrate, covered with stinging hairs. The flowers are small, green, with a simple perianth, staminate and pistillate. The flowers are collected in a spike-shaped inflorescence, which is equal in length to the leaf petioles or shorter than them. In stinging nettle, unlike stinging nettle, the spike-shaped inflorescences are pendulous and longer than the leaf petioles. Plant height 15-60 cm.

Common names: zhaliva, zhguchka, zhegala (Tver region), strekava (Pskov, Tver region), seri-palax (Mordovia), wind (Chuvashia), seizir, kirtken (Kyrgyzstan), eginj (Armenia), tchintchari (Georgia).

Flowering time: June August.

Spreading: Nettle is found almost throughout Russia.

Place of growth: Nettle grows along the edges of forests, gardens, bushes, river banks, ravines, wastelands, near housing and roads.

Applicable part: leaves and roots with rhizomes.

Collection time: leaves are collected in June - August, roots - in late autumn.

Chemical composition: stinging nettle leaves contain up to 269 mg% vitamin C, carotene and other carotenoids (up to 50 mg%), vitamins B and K, formic, pantothenic and other organic acids. up to 5% chlorophyll, more than 2% tannins, gum, protoporphyrin, coproporphyrin, sitosterol, glycoside urticin, iron, phytoncides, quercetin, caffeic, p-coumaric, ferulic acids were found in the leaves.

Stinging nettle leaves contain carotene, vitamins, pantothenic acid, iron and calcium salts, tannins, carotenoids, tannins, and the glycoside urticin.

Collection and preparation: Nettle leaves are collected when the plant is in flower. They do this with protective gloves, as fresh leaves sting to the point of burns. The leaves are dried under shelters, scattered in a layer of 3-5 cm and stirred periodically. Shelf life - 2 years. Rhizomes are dug up in early spring or in autumn, cleared of soil and dried under shelters or in dryers at a temperature of 40°C. Shelf life - 2 years.

Contraindications: Since the plant enhances blood clotting, nettle has contraindications for use: if you have varicose veins, thrombophlebitis and simply thick blood - in order to avoid the appearance of blood clots. Nettle should not be used for hypertension or kidney disease. Use very carefully for atherosclerosis.

Application:

Nettle is widely used in folk medicine various countries.

Russian medicine used it back in the 17th century and highly valued it as a good hemostatic and wound healing agent.

Nettle has a diuretic, weak laxative, expectorant, anticonvulsant, anti-inflammatory, antiseptic, analgesic, “blood purifying”, hemostatic and wound healing effect. It enhances the activity of the digestive glands and the secretion of milk in nursing women. Nettle increases the percentage of hemoglobin and the number of red blood cells in the blood. There are indications that a decoction of the leaves can lower blood sugar.

In Russian folk medicine and folk medicine of other countries, water infusion and decoction of nettle is used for diseases of the liver and biliary tract, kidney stones, dysentery, dropsy, chronic persistent constipation, colds, diseases of the respiratory organs, hemorrhoids, acute articular and muscular rheumatism, gout . Nettle infusion is also used as an internal “blood purifier” that improves blood composition in the treatment of various skin diseases (lichen, acne, boils). A decoction of the leaves with barley flour is drunk for chest pain.

In a mixture with other herbs, nettle is used for pulmonary tuberculosis. Nettle leaves are included in various gastric, laxative and multivitamin preparations.

A water infusion of nettle has long been used in folk medicine for hemorrhoidal, uterine, pulmonary and intestinal bleeding.

IN last years Nettle began to be used in scientific medicine for uterine and intestinal bleeding in the form of a liquid extract. Clinical testing has shown that it does not cause any harmful effects. The liquid extract also has diuretic, antifever and anti-inflammatory effects. Nettle extract regulates menstruation and reduces blood loss from it. To increase blood clotting, it is recommended to use a mixture of liquid extracts of nettle and yarrow. The hemostatic effect of nettle is explained by the presence in it of a special antihemorrhagic vitamin K, as well as vitamin C and tannins.

In folk medicine, a decoction of the rhizomes and roots of stinging nettle is used internally for furunculosis, hemorrhoids and swelling of the legs, and an infusion of the roots is used as a heart remedy. Sugared nettle rhizomes are also used for coughs.

Infusion of roots stinging nettle used to treat pulmonary tuberculosis. An infusion of stinging nettle flowers in the form of tea is drunk for choking and coughing for expectoration and resorption of sputum.

Nettle is also used as an external hemostatic and wound healing agent. Infected wounds are more quickly freed from pus and heal faster if they are sprinkled with nettle powder or fresh leaves are applied to them. A decoction of the whole plant is used externally for washes and compresses for tumors. Dried and crushed leaves are used for nosebleeds, and fresh leaves are used to destroy warts.

Nettle infusion is rubbed into the scalp to grow and strengthen hair in case of hair loss.

Even in ancient times, nettle was used in folk medicine as a skin irritant (that is, a factor in reflex therapy).

Nettle has a multifaceted effect on the human body and deserves wide use in scientific medicine.

Mode of application:

1) Infuse 1 tablespoon of dry nettle leaves for 1 hour in 1 glass of boiling water, strain. Take 1 tablespoon 3-4 times a day 1/2 hour before meals.

2) Infuse 1 tablespoon of dried nettle leaves for 1 hour in 1 glass of boiling water, strain. Wet your hair with the infusion after washing and lightly rub it into the skin, but do not wipe your head. Apply rubbing for several months, repeating them every week.

Powder from dried nettle leaves is sprinkled on weeping and festering wounds.

Briquettes are produced from crushed nettle leaves weighing 75 g, divided into 10 segments. One slice is poured into a glass of boiling water, left for 10 minutes, filtered, and cooled. Prescribe 1 tablespoon 3 times a day.

Stinging nettle Urtica urens 2X-3X is used in homeopathy. Prescribed for allergic diseases: angioedema of the skin and mucous membranes, urticaria and hay fever.

Nettle (lat. Urtica) is a large genus of annual or perennial herbaceous plants that belong to the dicotyledonous class, order Rosaceae, nettle family.

When creating botanical nomenclature, Carl Linnaeus left a generic name for this plant, received from Pliny the Elder. The etymology of the name is associated with the Latin words “uro” and “ussi”, meaning “to burn” or “to be burned”, eloquently speaking about the ability of the plant to cause noticeable painful burns to a person when its stems or leaves are touched. Russian definition comes from two Old Slavonic words: “krapat” - meaning “to splash” and “okrop” - corresponding to the concept of “boiling water”. Thus, it turns out that nettle is a plant that burns like boiling water and leaves burns in the form of drops or splashes.

Nettle - description and characteristics.

Depending on the species, nettle can be either a monoecious or dioecious erect plant with one stem and several lateral shoots. The height of nettle varies from 0.55 m to 2 m. The edges of nettle leaves, located opposite each other, are solid, with light or deep serrations, and also deeply dissected into 3-5 parts. The stipules located at the base of the petiole are paired and quite often fused together.

The stems and leaves of nettle are colored in various shades of green, and their surface is in most cases covered with a huge number of stinging hairs. Each of them is a kind of ampoule containing acetylcholine, serotonin, histamine, as well as formic acid, tartaric and oxalic acid. When it comes into contact with the body of a person or animal, the siliceous tip of the hair breaks off and penetrates under skin, and with it the contents of the “ampoule”, causing a chemical burn at the point of contact. Histamine, serotonin and acetylcholine cause pain and redness, while tartaric and oxalic acids, found in some types of nettles, are responsible for the duration of pain.

The branching inflorescences of nettle of the false-spike-shaped or paniculate type consist of small unisexual, less often bisexual, flowers.

Classification of nettles.

The genus Urtica consists of more than 50 species of nettle, some of which are recognized by modern science as subspecies and synonyms. Below are the types of nettles with an indication of their growing area according to data from the website (www.theplantlist.org/tpl1.1/search?q=urtica):

Urtica andicola
Urtica angustifolia – Nettle leaf. Russia, China, Japan, Korea
Urtica aquatica
Urtica ardens. China.
Urtica atrichocaulis. Himalayas, southwest China
Urtica atrovirens. Western Mediterranean
Urtica ballotifolia
Urtica berteroana
Urtica cannabina - Hemp nettle. Russia and Western Asia from Siberia to Iran
Urtica chamaedryoides. Southeast North America
Urtica circularis
Urtica dioica - . Europe, Russia, Asia, North America
Urtica echinata
Urtica ferox – Ongaonga nettle tree. New Zealand
Urtica fissa. China.
Urtica flabellata
Urtica galeopsifolia – Nettle. Central and Eastern Europe, Russia
Urtica glomeruliflora
Urtica gracilenta. USA (Arizona, New Mexico, western Texas), northern Mexico
Urtica haussknechtii
Urtica hyperborea. Himalayas from Pakistan to Bhutan, Mongolia and Tibet
Urtica kioviensis - Kiev nettle. Eastern Europe
Urtica laetevirens – Light green nettle. Russia, Japan, Manchuria, Korea
Urtica leptophylla
Urtica lilloi
Urtica longispica
Urtica macbridei
Urtica magellanica
Urtica mairei. Himalayas, southwest China, northeast India, Myanmar
Urtica masafuerae
Urtica massaica
Urtica membranacea. Mediterranean, Azores
Urtica Mexicana
Urtica minutifolia
Urtica mollis
Urtica morifolia. Canary Islands (endemic)
Urtica orizabae
Urtica parviflora. Himalayas
Urtica pilulifera – Ball nettle. Southern Europe, Russia
Urtica platyphylla – Flat-leaved nettle. China, Japan, Russia
Urtica praetermissa
Urtica pseudomagellanica. Bolivia
Urtica pubescens – Hairy nettle. Northern Russia, central Asia
Urtica purpurascens
Urtica rupestris. Sicily (endemic)
Urtica sondenii – Sonden's nettle. Northeastern Europe, northern Asia
Urtica spiralis
Urtica stachyoides
Urtica subincisa
Urtica taiwaniana. Taiwan
Urtica thunbergiana - Thunberg nettle. Japan, Taiwan
Urtica triangularis

- Urtica triangularis subsp. pinnatifida

Urtica trichantha
Urtica urens - Stinging nettle. Europe, Russia, North America

Types of nettles that grow in Russia:

Urtica angustifolia – Nettle leaf
Urtica cannabina - Hemp nettle
Urtica dioica - Stinging nettle
Urtica galeopsifolia – Stinging nettle
Urtica kioviensis - Kiev nettle
Urtica laetevirens – Light green nettle
Urtica pilulifera – Ball nettle
Urtica platyphylla – Flat-leaved nettle
Urtica sondenii – Sonden's nettle
Urtica urens - Stinging nettle

Types of nettles, names and photos.

Below is a description of several varieties of nettles:

is a perennial herbaceous plant with a well-developed creeping root system. The erect, hollow inside stem, having a tetrahedral cross-section, is abundantly covered with simple and stinging hairs. There is an abundant amount of burning hairs in the nodes. The height of the stem ranges from 0.6 to 2 m. At the beginning of the growing season, the nettle stem has a simple structure, however, starting from mid-summer, numerous axillary shoots form on it. The leaves of stinging nettle, painted dark green, have an elongated ovate-lanceolate or oval-heart-shaped shape. Their length can reach 5-17 cm, while the width of the leaves is 3-7 cm. The edges of the leaf blade are cut with rather deep teeth. The length of the petiole is 1-6 cm. Paniculate inflorescences consist of small unisexual flowers of pale green color. Nettle fruits are elliptical or ovoid in shape, their length is 1-1.3 mm, width - 0.8-1 mm. The flowering period of this type of nettle begins in the first ten days of May and ends in late autumn. widespread throughout almost the entire territory of Eurasia, as well as in most countries North Africa, in China, South-West and Central Asia. Also introduced to the North American continent and Australia. In Russia, nettle grows in forest and forest-steppe zones, ranging from the European part to the Caucasus, Eastern Siberia and the Far East. Thanks to its horizontal branching root system, dioecious nettle is capable of forming extensive thickets in damp meadows, along the banks of rivers and reservoirs, on deserted abandoned lands, along roads and fences.

widespread in Russian Federation, Germany, Poland, Romania, France and others European countries, as well as in North America. This annual plant with a powerful but rather short vertical root and a tetrahedral erect stem 15-50 cm high, the surface of which is covered with shallow vertical grooves. The small leaves of stinging nettle are dark green in color, reaching 1-6 cm in length and 1-4 cm in width, with a serrated edge, like the trunk, covered with numerous stinging hairs and a small number of simple hairs. The shape of the leaf blade can be oval or ovoid with a pointed nose. Unisexual small greenish nettle flowers can be either solitary or collected in spike-shaped inflorescences. The length of the petiole is 0.5-4 cm. Nettle fruits are ovoid in shape, their length is 1.5-2 mm, width - 1.1-1.3 mm. Ripe fruits usually have red-brown glands. Stinging nettle blooms from mid-May to late autumn.

grows in Germany, Poland, France, Spain, Italy, in other European countries, as well as in Palestine. It is listed in the Red Book and is distributed in the European part of Russia, Belarus and Ukraine. This is a perennial monoecious plant with numerous lodging herbaceous stems no more than 1.2 m high. The leaf blades are dark green in color and have an oblong-ovate shape with a jagged edge. The surface of nettle leaves and stems is covered with sparse, stinging hairs. The paniculate inflorescence bears male and female flowers. The growing season of this type of nettle continues until the onset of stable frosts, down to -5 o C. Kiev nettle grows on swampy soils, in deciduous forests, along the banks of lakes, rivers and streams. Flowering lasts from early June to late July.

grows in East Asian countries, in China and Japan, in the territory Far East Russia, Commander and Kuril Islands, Sakhalin and Kamchatka. It is a perennial plant with a short vertical root and a rather tall, erect stem and numerous thin side shoots. The height of the stem varies from 50 cm to 1.5 meters. The shape of the leaf blades can be ovoid or elongated-ovoid, their length varies from 4 to 20 cm, the width reaches 12 cm. The surface of the leaves, stem and side shoots of nettle is covered with stinging hairs. Paniculate or spike-shaped inflorescences, appearing in July-August, consist of very small flowers of a grayish-green color. Flat-leaved nettle blooms from July to October.

found in mixed mountain and riverine forests, along roads and in populated areas China, Korea, Japan, Mongolia. On the territory of Russia it grows in the Chita and Irkutsk regions, Krasnoyarsk Territory, Altai, Buryatia and the Far East. This is a perennial herbaceous plant with a height of 15 cm to 1.2 meters with creeping rhizomes and an erect stem with sparse side shoots. The leaf blades are elongated-lanceolate or lanceolate (sometimes ovate-lanceolate), 4-12 cm long, 1-4 cm wide, with a serrate edge, painted in various shades of green. Inflorescences are paniculate, strongly branched. The whole plant is covered with many simple hairs, among which there are a few stinging ones. Nettle fruits are elliptical, ovoid or rounded-ovoid, fruit length 0.8-1 mm, fruit width 0.7-1 mm. Flowering of angustifolia nettle begins in June and, depending on the place of growth, can last until October. Can form hybrids with stinging nettle and flat-leaved nettle.

– grows throughout almost the entire territory of the Russian Federation, Central Asia, Mongolia and China. It is mainly found along roads, in vacant lots, railway embankments, and in populated areas. This is a perennial plant with a powerful, horizontal, non-creeping root system and an erect tetrahedral stem with vertical ribs. The height of the nettle stem can reach 70-150 cm. Quite large leaves are dark green, up to 15 cm long, three-dissected or tripartite (with pinnately dissected segments). The stems and leaves are densely covered with clusters of fine stinging hairs and a small number of simple hairs. Inflorescences consist of many small unisexual flowers. The length of the petiole is 3-8 cm, which is 2-3 times shorter than the blade. Nettle fruits are ovoid or elliptical in shape, fruit length is 1.9-2.5 mm, fruit width is 1.2-2.8 mm. The flowering period of this type of nettle lasts from early June to mid-August.

grows in European countries, in the south of Russia (in the Caucasus). This is a perennial plant with a creeping root system. The height of the tetrahedral erect stem, densely pubescent with simple hairs and a few stinging hairs, can reach 2 meters. Nettle leaves are arranged oppositely and have an elliptical or oblong-ovate shape. The leaf length is 6-14 cm with a width of 2.5 to 5 cm. The nettle leaf has a round or heart-shaped base, as well as a pointed tip. There are usually no burning hairs on the leaf blade. The length of the petiole is 1.5-5 cm. Nettle fruits are ovoid or elliptical in shape, their length varies from 1 to 1.3 mm, and their width is 0.7-1 mm. This type of nettle can be found in damp marshy areas, in lowlands and near rivers, in forests and bushes.

- a perennial plant with a creeping root system, grows up to 1 meter in height. The nodes usually contain both burning and simple hairs. There are no hairs in the internodes. Nettle leaves have a narrow-ovate or oblong-ovate shape. The length of the leaf varies between 4 and 12 cm with a width of 1.5 to 4.5 cm. The apex of the leaf is pointed, the base is rounded, wedge-shaped. The leaf has 12-25 pairs of teeth. On the leaf blade only occasionally there are a few simple and stinging hairs, mainly located in large veins. The length of the petiole is from 1 to 6 cm. The nettle fruit has the shape of an ellipse or egg, the length of the fruit is 1-1.3 mm, the width is 0.6-1 mm. Sonden nettle grows in northern Europe, eastern Central Asia, and Russia. Usually this plant grows in forests and floodplains, meadows and near water bodies. It is very rare to find this type of nettle in cities or near roads.

Nettle light green (lat.Urtica laetevirens) is a perennial herbaceous plant that blooms from June to August. The stem, whose height is 40-100 cm, has stinging hairs. The pointed nettle leaves, serrated along the edges, have a broadly ovate shape. The upper inflorescences are long, staminate, the lower ones are short and intermittent pistillate. The fruit of nettle is an egg-shaped nut. Light green nettle grows in the Russian Far East, found at the foot of cliffs and in the shade of forests. Prefers broad-leaved, coniferous-deciduous and poplar forests.

nettle tree or ongaonga (lat. Urtica ferox - “fierce nettle”) grows exclusively in New Zealand. This is perhaps the only nettle with a woody stem, the height of which can reach 5 meters and a thickness of 12 cm. The stem has numerous branched side shoots and large leaves, having a length of 8-12 cm and a width of 3-5 cm, densely covered with stinging hairs up to 6 mm long. The light green leaves have an elongated triangular shape.

grows in southwest China, northeast India, the Himalayas, Myanmar, Nepal and Bhutan, where it is found in partially shaded moist forests, along the banks of streams, on roadsides and mountain slopes, and also near human habitation. It is a perennial herbaceous monoecious plant with a stolon-like root system and an erect stem with sparse lateral branches. The height of individual specimens rarely exceeds 1 m. The leaf blades, painted dark green, have a heart-shaped, ovoid, sometimes oblong shape. The length of nettle leaves is 10-15 cm, width - 3-6 cm. Petiole length is 3-8 mm. Inflorescences are unisexual, paniculate, 4-10 cm long, with small flowers grayish-green color. The fruits are light brown in color and have an oblong-spherical or spherical shape. The flowering period of nettle lasts from May to August.

- a perennial plant with a straight or ascending stem, covered with a bluish coating, height from 20 to 75 cm. The leaves of ball-bearing nettle are quite wide (up to 9 cm), ovoid in shape, with a rounded base and a pointed apex. The inflorescences are collected in a spherical head. The fruit is a heart-shaped nut, no more than 3 mm long. This type of nettle is widespread in Crimea and the East Transcaucasian region. The plant loves landfills, roadsides, and is often found as a weed in cultivated crops.

Dioecious nettle (lat. Urtica dioica) is a perennial herbaceous plant, belongs to the flowering department, dicotyledonous class, order Rosaceae, nettle family, nettle genus.

The Latin name for stinging nettle is justified; it comes from a word meaning “to burn.” The second part of the name “dioecious” means that for pollination two bushes of the opposite “sex” are needed, which completely excludes self-pollination.

Stinging nettle: description.

Stinging nettle is perennial plant, reaching a height of 55 cm to two meters. The herbaceous stem of stinging nettle is ribbed, tetrahedral, erect, branched into axillary shoots, and hollow inside.

The leaves of stinging nettle are large, 7-18 cm long, usually ovoid in shape (sometimes there are specimens with an elliptical leaf blade), dark green with a pointed tip and denticles along the edge. On the stem, the leaves of stinging nettle are arranged oppositely and are attached to it by long petioles. Both the stem and leaves of nettle are covered with stinging hairs, touching which causes itching and small blisters. Although there are species that are completely devoid of burning pubescence.

The inflorescences of stinging nettle are unisexual, located in the axils, and are a spike-shaped panicle with flowers of a greenish tint. The calyx-shaped perianth is covered with numerous hairs and is dissected into 4 segments.

The fruit of stinging nettle is a small single-seeded nut of a biconvex shape, only 1-1.4 millimeters in length and compressed on the sides to the contours of an ellipse. The color of the fruit varies from yellow to brownish and is determined by the degree of ripening. By the way, one bush of the stinging nettle plant is capable of producing about 22 thousand seeds by the end of the growing season!

Where does stinging nettle grow?

The stinging nettle plant is distributed almost everywhere: in the temperate climate zone of Europe and in hot Asia, in China and India, in Transcaucasia, North America and on the Australian continent, in the regions of the Far East and Siberia. More often, stinging nettle is found in forest zones and forest-steppe areas, forming dense nettle thickets there. For gardeners and vegetable garden owners, nettle is a hated and difficult to remove weed.

A powerful rhizome with highly developed lateral shoots allows nettles to grow on the most ignoble and poor soils: often this “stinging person” can be found in wastelands, in forest thickets, near swamps, in weedy places or along half-rotten dead wood.

Stinging nettle: collection.

Green leaves of stinging nettle and its stems are an excellent medicinal raw material and an excellent vitamin and feed supplement for livestock. Nettle leaves are collected from mid-May to the end of July; this is done in dry weather, preferably before lunch, when the dew has already disappeared, but the sun is not too hot. Raw materials for feed are mowed throughout the vegetative period, dried into hay, or added when making a silage mixture.

Harvesting stinging nettle (how to dry and store).

The cut plant should be dried a little in the shade for 2-4 hours in a shady place, then the raw materials are either dried in special dryers, setting there temperature regime at 45-50°C, or laid out on a clean cloth/paper in a ventilated area and dried naturally until the leaves are perfectly brittle. You can store dry nettle for no more than two years; glass containers with a tight lid or bags sewn from natural canvas are perfect for this.

Stinging nettle and stinging nettle: differences.

A common neighbor of stinging nettle is stinging nettle. The plants are very similar both in appearance and in chemical composition, and for use in medicine. However, it is possible to distinguish these types.

The panicle inflorescences of stinging nettle are much shorter than the inflorescences of stinging nettle. The stem of stinging nettle is more branched, the leaves are not so pointed and have oval shape with a serrated edge.
If dioecious nettle grows in large thickets from 55 cm to 2 meters in height, then stinging nettle forms small clumps (flower beds) during its growth, and its bushes are much more modest and do not exceed 60 centimeters in height.

Urtica dioica L. Nettle family - Urticaceae

This plant, which is unfriendly upon close acquaintance, has been known since time immemorial. Its generic name is derived from the Latin “urere” (to burn) and is caused by the property of nettle to cause burning and itching of the skin upon contact with it. The burning sensation is explained by the fact that nettle hairs break off easily due to the significant content of silicic acid in them. They cut the skin and, releasing formic acid, cause severe irritation.

Nettle - a well-known wild-growing perennial herbaceous plant up to 170 cm high with a creeping branched rhizome. The stems are erect, bluntly tetrahedral, grooved, unbranched, covered, like the whole plant, with long, burning hairs. The leaves are opposite, petiolate, ovate-lanceolate, coarsely toothed, up to 17 cm long. The upper part of the leaves is dark green, covered with stinging hairs; down side- light green with veins, also covered with stinging hairs. The flowers are small, greenish, with a simple four-part perianth, collected in branched intermittent spikes emerging from the leaf axils. The fruit is an ovoid or elliptical nut, yellowish-gray in color.

Blooms from June to September. It grows as a weed near homes, in vacant lots, along roads, in clearings, in the mountains, as well as in shady, damp forests, ravines and coastal bushes. Found throughout almost the entire European part of Russia, including the Caucasus, Central Asia and Western Siberia, less often as an alien plant - in Eastern Siberia and the Far East.

When harvesting, you should distinguish stinging nettle from possible impurities:

Dead nettle, or white nettle, which does not have stinging properties. Its leaves are smooth with alternating small and large teeth;

Stinging nettle, characterized by its smaller size, branched stem and small leaves with deep, blunt teeth.

The leaves of stinging nettle are used in medicine. It should be harvested during flowering - from June to September. To avoid burns, the leaves are collected with gloves on, or the entire plant is mowed, allowed to wither, after which the leaves that have lost their pungency are plucked.

Dry in the shade, in attics, under a canopy, in ventilated areas, laying out the leaves on bedding very thin layer. After drying, remove leaves that have changed their natural color, as well as stems and flowers. The dried raw material consists of dark green leaves with a faint odor and bitter taste.

Nettle leaves contain significant amount ascorbic acid, carotene, vitamins B and K, formic, pantothenic and other organic acids, tannins and protein substances, gums, glycoside durticin, phytoncides, proteins, sugars, iron, potassium and calcium salts, sulfur.

Nettle has long been widely used in folk medicine in various countries. It has a hemostatic effect, enhancing blood clotting, increases the content of hemoglobin and red blood cells, has a tonic effect on the walls of blood vessels and the smooth muscles of the uterus, and lowers blood sugar. Due to the high content of chlorophyll - the green pigment of plants, which chemical structure is related to human blood pigment - nettle has a tonic effect, improves basal metabolism, stimulates granulation and epithelization of affected tissues.

A decoction of nettle leaves has long been used for pulmonary tuberculosis, anemia, bronchitis, malaria, spleen diseases, muscle and joint rheumatism, diarrhea, and hair loss. Fresh young grass from the plant was rubbed into the skin to destroy warts, as well as for articular rheumatism and radiculitis.

Back in the 17th century, Russian doctors, using the bactericidal properties of fresh nettle, treated wounds, ulcers and fistulas with it. Fresh nettle juice was used for liver and kidney stones, pulmonary diseases, fever, internal bleeding, treatment of infected wounds, and for rubbing into the scalp for hair loss.

In folk medicine, 100 g of crushed leaves are poured into a mixture of 0.5 liters of water and 0.5 table vinegar, boiled for 30 minutes, filtered and used to wash hair for hair loss.

In scientific medicine, an infusion of nettle leaves is used as a hemostatic agent for pulmonary, kidney, uterine and intestinal bleeding. We offer fast transportation of special equipment at special prices.

The infusion is prepared according to general rules at the rate of 2 tablespoons of finely chopped leaves per glass of water. Take 1/2-1/4 cup 3-5 times a day half an hour before meals.

The industry produces briquettes from nettle leaves, liquid and thick extracts. In addition, nettle is included in the choleretic drug “allochol”, collection No. 2 for the preparation of medicine according to Zdrenko’s prescription, laxative collection No. 1, gastric collection No. 3 and multivitamin collection.

Nettle family

Perennial long-rhizome herbaceous plant from the family. Nettles. The height of the stems reaches 150 cm. The stems are tetrahedral, hollow, like the leaves, and densely covered with burning hairs. Anyone who has ever experienced the touch of nettle will never forget it or confuse it with other types of plants. The leaves are large, ovate-heart-shaped, double-toothed, leaf petioles are shorter than the blade. The flowers are small, greenish, unisexual. Blooms from June.

Nettle is the most popular wild plant among our people. Young stems and leaves are used for food. The above-ground parts of the plant are harvested from early spring to late autumn. Nettle leaves can be stored for future use, they are dried, and older ones can be salted and fermented in chopped form, like cabbage. It is believed that the nutritional value of nettle is close to leguminous plants. In Rus', potato soups have long been cooked with nettles, whitened with milk, less often with sour cream, and sometimes a hard-boiled egg was added. During crop failures, Russian peasants added dry grass, ground into powder, to bread at the rate of one part nettle flour to four parts grain flour. The seeds were added to cereals or potatoes. During the difficult years of the Great Patriotic War Nettle also helped our people out; green soups and borscht made from nettles were common dishes in our canteens. Dry, powdered nettles were mixed with dry crushed horse sorrel leaves, a little flour was added for gluing, and bread was baked.

In the Caucasus, young leaves are eaten fresh, added to salads, and mixed with other greens. In Dagestan, nettle leaves are added to pies and dumplings. In the spring, when there are no garden vegetables yet, and the body’s reserves of vitamins are depleted, it is good to put young leaves in borscht, soups, and green cabbage soup from them.

Nettle You can grow them at home on windowsills in boxes and, when there are difficulties with vitamin nutrition in winter, you can eat fresh leaves in the form of sandwiches. To do this, fresh nettle leaves are placed between two pieces of bread (preferably rye), greased with butter, and the oil neutralizes the sting of the nettle hairs.

Nettle salad. Wash young nettle leaves (200 g), dip in boiling water for 5 minutes, drain in a colander, chop and place in a salad bowl. Pounded kernels walnuts(25 g) dilute in 1/4 cup of nettle decoction, add a teaspoon of table vinegar, mix and season the nettles with the resulting mixture in a salad bowl. Sprinkle with finely chopped parsley (20 g) and green onions. The salad can be seasoned with sour cream and garnished with slices of hard-boiled eggs.

Nettle filling for pies. Pour boiling water over young nettle leaves and let sit for 5 minutes. After this, place the nettles in a sieve and, when the water has drained, chop them, mixing them with boiled rice and finely chopped eggs. Add salt.

Cabbage soup made from nettle and sorrel. Sort out young nettles (500 g), rinse, pour boiling water over them, place on a sieve and pour over cold water, squeeze and finely chop. Onion(30 g) sauté for vegetable oil in a saucepan, add chopped nettles to it and sauté until soft. Then add chopped sorrel (300 g), close the pan with a lid and simmer (10 - 20 minutes). Dilute flour sautéed in oil (35 g) hot water, stir well and add to the soup with continuous stirring. Add water (750 g) to the soup according to the norm and bring to a boil. Grind the yolks (5 pcs.) with sour cream (150 g) and season with cabbage soup, avoiding boiling. Before serving, sprinkle with chopped parsley (20 g).

Nettle has antibacterial properties. According to the observations of S.I. Chernobrivenko, “if you surround fish or meat with freshly picked nettles, or even better, put nettles in the abdominal cavity of gutted fish or poultry, then they are relatively long time do not spoil. The reason, obviously, is that nettle hairs secrete substances that are destructive to microbes that cause spoilage in fish and meat.”

Nettle greens contain a lot of useful substances. It has been established that the leaves are saturated with all kinds of vitamins: vitamin C, carotene, vitamins Br and K; contain iron, copper, manganese, organic acids, tannins, proteins, starch, sugars, etc. Thirty grams of nettle greens provide a person with carotene and vitamin C for a day. Chlorophyll, extracted from nettle leaves, is widely used in the food and pharmaceutical industries as a dye .

Nettle is used in official and folk medicine. Its drugs improve metabolism, stimulate wound healing, and are used for vitamin deficiencies. Due to the presence of vitamin K in the plant, extracts and infusions from the leaves increase blood clotting. Nettle helps to increase hemoglobin content and increase the number of red blood cells, so it is used to treat anemia. The leaves are included in “stomach”, hemostatic and vitamin preparations.

Nettle also used in the manufacture of many cosmetics. In Bulgaria, they use a decoction of crushed nettle leaves to wash their hair in case of hair loss (100 g of crushed nettle, 0.5 liters of water and 0.5 liters of vinegar, boil for 30 minutes, wash your hair without soap). In France, an infusion of nettle is rubbed against hair loss (1 tablespoon of nettle is infused in 1 glass of boiling water, rubbed 1-2 times a week). Nettle is used among the local population to treat rheumatism and tired legs after long marches.

Nettle is found everywhere in the Republic of Tatarstan, and almost everyone knows it. Where a person settles, nettles appear. Others can also be used for food. annual species nettles with small leaves - stinging nettle.