NativeTech: Native American Technology and Art
Indigenous Plants & Native Uses in the Northeast

NETTLE NETTLE
(Urtica species )
NETTLE

NETTLE

Food: Stinging nettle (U. dioica) young shoots and tender top leaves can be gathered (using gloves) and dried for a potherb. Boiling the nettle destroys the irritant quality. Medicine: Root and

Medicine: Root and boiled leaf decoctions were used to sooth symptoms of rheumatism. A nettle tea helped clear the lungs.

Technology: Stinging nettle plants are used to produce a tan dye. Fibers from the Slender nettle (U. gracilis) plant are used in making string. Fibers from the False Nettle (Urticastrum divaricatum) plant (that does not have stinging spines) are also used in making string.

Note: For additional information browse NativeTech's Plants used for Cordage.


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