By Emma Hogbin in Plants —

Stinging nettle (Urtica dioica)

Stinging nettle (Urtica dioica)
Nettle plants, including with seeds

Identification

Based entirely on appearance, stinging nettles should be part of the mint family. Square stem, leaves in opposite pairs, sometimes-purple tinged. If you look closely at stinging nettles, you’ll also see they look a bit hairy. These hairs are tiny hypodermic needles filled with histamine, and formic acid.

Botany

Thrives in many locations, including grassland, hedgerows, riverbanks, woodland clearings, and wasteland.

Part of the plant to use

Full plant. No one is going to mind if you even uproot it. The root will give darker tones. For brighter colours, use only the leaves.

Uses

Infinitely useful to make rope, dye (the original “camo green”), and it’s edible when cooked.

Colour

nettle ink with iron and copper modifiers

The amount of tannin will increase as the season progresses. The spring ink will be lighter green/yellow; the autumn ink will be olive green.

Browns and dark-grey: add iron II sulphate