For most people, the stinging nettle is a bothersome weed, but above all, it's a tasty medicinal plant. The annual dwarf nettle (Urtica dioica) is more delicate and refined in appearance than its relative, the common nettle (Urtica dioica) – but it stings even more intensely upon contact. From May to November, this leafy plant blooms with rather inconspicuous greenish-white flowers arranged in drooping spikes and pollinated by the wind. It grows as an annual herbaceous plant and reaches heights of 10 to 60 centimeters. Its medicinal properties: Nettle tea, with its high iron content, is popular for spring fatigue, detoxification, flushing the urinary tract, bladder irritation, and mild cystitis. To prepare the tea, steep young, dried leaves in hot, covered water for a few minutes. The young shoots, which form in April or May, can be cooked in vegetable dishes, added to fresh vegetable juice, eaten raw and finely chopped in herb butter, salads, as a bread topping, like spinach, in herb sauces, and as a dried spice. The green seeds are harvested in June and July and make a tasty bread topping. They can also be roasted and enjoyed as a snack.
Natural habitat: The stinging nettle is a cosmopolitan plant, found in all temperate zones of Europe, Asia, and America.
