Latin Name: Urtica dioica
Family: Urticaceae (Nettle Family)
Botanical Description: Nettle grows from two to six feet tall on a square, fibrous stem with deep grooves running along its length. The dark green leaves are ovate and sharply toothed with a heart-shaped base and a pointy tip. It does have a square stem but is not part of the mint family. They are located in opposite pairs and become progressively smaller toward the top of the stem. The leaves and stems are covered with tiny, hollow hairs tipped with silica. Nettle spreads by rhizomes, so each plant can have multiple stem and thus nettle typically grows in dense colonies. The tiny, inconspicuous green flowers droop in bunches from the leaf axils.