Nettle (Il-Ħurrieq)

What is Nettle? Nettle is a type of plant which is found in the Urticaceae family. This herbaceous perennial plant is found in Europe, Asia, Northern Africa and Western North America. There are 6 subspecies, five of which have trichomes on their leaves and stems which are used to inject histamine which produces a stinging sensation when contacted by humans and animals.

What is it used for? Nettle is very important as it is used in medicines to cure disorders of kidneys and the flu. The medicine itself is the fresh leaf or as tea. Nettle has bast fibre and unlike cotton doesn’t have pesticides when growing. Around the time that Jesus was born, nettle was used to make clothes. In fact in WWI the German Army uniforms were made out of nettle as there wasn’t much cotton.

What can you do if you get stung by nettle? If you ever get stung by nettle you can heal it by rubbing a cream which has antihistaminics or hydrocortisone. The cream may provide a relief from the symptons. Some other folk remedies include dandelion, leaf of dock and lemon juice.

Is it used for cooking? When cooked the stinging chemical gets removed and is edible to eat. Nettle, when eaten, has a flavour similar to spinach mixed with cucumber when it is cooked. It’s very rich in vitamin A and vitamin C, iron, potassium, manganese and calcium. The young plants were harvested by the Native Americans in spring when other food was very scarce.

Thankyou for your attention! Made by: Kyle Barbara, Justin Grech, Neil Magrin and Tyler Camilleri