Extension > Garden > Diagnose a problem > Is this plant a weed? > Broadleaf Weeds > Upright > Stinging Nettle
Stinging Nettle
Urtica dioica L.
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Found in:
- Prairie and landscape plantings
- Woodland edges and poorly maintained landscapes
Characteristics:
- Light green, upright perennial
- All parts of the leaves and stems are covered with long hairs
- Stems are four-sided, ridged and grooved
- Leaves are coarsely toothed or jagged along the edges
- Leaves are opposite one another along stem
- Fibrous root system has underground stems (rhizomes)
- New plants can grow from rhizomes
Significance
- Minnesota Invasive Weed that spreads rapidly
- Long hairs on plant sting skin when touched
- Wear protective clothing when hand pulling
Plants that look similar:
- Creeping Bellflower (foliage)
- Motherwort
- Figwort (foliage)
- White Snakeroot (foliage)
- Wild Aster (foliage)
