Country intro
Stinging Nettle
Some trails are absolutely lined with these plants at this time of the year. Don't touch! It'll give you a nasty sting that lasts for quite some time and rubbing it with a dock leaf is just a temporary fix. I don't begrudge it all though - it is the main food for the caterpillars of many butterflies, so without the nettles we would lose the butterflies.
Stinging nettle or common nettle, "Urtica dioica", is a herbaceous perennial flowering plant, native to Europe, Asia, northern Africa, and North America, and is the best-known member of the nettle genus "Urtica". The plant has many hollow stinging hairs called trichomes on its leaves and stems, which act like hypodermic needles, injecting histamine and other chemicals that produce a stinging sensation when contacted by humans and other animals.
