Subject: Re: stinging nettles in the lawn From: pburch@condor.mbcr.bcm.tmc.edu (Paula Burch) Organization: Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Tx Date: Wed, 14 Apr 99 03:21:12 Message-ID: <MOD$990413.20118@rec.gardens.ecosystems> References: <MOD$990412.26143@rec.gardens.ecosystems>
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orangerose@aol.com (Orangerose) writes: > That doesn't sound like any stinging nettle I've ever encountered! > I'd make sure it was stinging nettle before trying to get rid of it. > I think it's highly unlikely that true stinging nettles would > survive in a lawn. First, nettles get to be quite large--to six > feet or more--and to survive in a lawn, they would have to be > brand-new seedlings. If that were the case, they wouldn't sting, > because the new growth on nettles is incapable of stinging. > Maybe you can describe the plant you are talking about and someone > here can help you identify it. Once identified, you can decide on > the best option to get rid of it...
Thank you. It never occurred to us that it could be something else.
The plant is, as I said, very small, one to two inches tall; we don't
know whether or not it will grow larger, since we haven't been
watching very long, but they do not have the fresh, young look common
in new growth. It has opposite leaves, like a nettle or mint. I saw
fine, sticker-shaped hairs on the stem, and fine hairs on the
leaves. The leaves, unlike other nettles I've experienced, were small
and sort of rounded, the size of my littlest fingernail or
smaller. The edges of the leaves were a bit scalloped, I think. The
stickers were not stiff enough to hurt mechanically, as, say on a rose
bush; it took a moment for the sting to start, a chemical sort of
sting like a fireant bite or a beesting, but more painful and more
long-lasting. The plants were growing beneath the leaves of other
plants (unfortunately neither dock nor plantain, both reputed to take
the sting out).
Is there another plant besides nettles that has stinging hairs?
As it turned out, another friend, this one from Canada (I'm from
Maryland), had also identified the plants as stinging nettles, the day
before; our friend who bought the house just couldn't remember what
she'd said. She said that they were by far the nastiest stinging
nettles she'd ever encountered. This is in a yard in Bellaire, Texas,
a small city that is surrounded by Houston. We're in zone 9, with a
lot of rain and humidity.