Stinging Nettle

Stinging nettle is a yummy wild edible plant. Have you ever tried it? If you like edamame, then you should try this plant. It taste like edamame. You only eat the leaf though, and I will tell you how to eat it right now.

Stinging nettle has little hairs, some are stinging hairs, and some are non-stinging hairs that appear mostly on the stem and top part of the leaf. To eat the leaf, you pick it by pinching the bottom of the leaf and folding it into a taco shape. Then, you fold the leaf into a little packet and put it in your mouth. Your saliva breaks down the hairs so it doesn’t sting you when you chew it. And that’s how you eat stinging nettle. Now that you know how to eat it, here are some things you can learn about stinging nettle.

Stinging nettle is found in riparian habitats. A riparian habitat is an area next to water. Stinging nettle grows 3-7 ft tall, and the leaves are usually between 1-5 inches long. It has small greenish flowers that are really pretty, and jagged edges that look like teeth. Now, I hope you learned something about stinging nettle today, and I hope you will come back for more!

​By: Asiya Rizvi  Age 12
Photo: Sama Wareh