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Heartleaf Nettle

Urtica chamaedryoides

Found in rich moist soil, usually on floodplains. FloraQuest, phone app (app page) What its natural habitat tells you

47
Good

Native to Alabama. How scores work Is it native here?

Profile 94%

Height
Up to about 32 inches
Light
Full sun, Partial shade
Soil moisture
Usually moist
Will it fit your yard?

At a glance

Life cycle
Annual
Bloom
September to May
Fruiting season
November to July

Not yet recorded · Spread · Leaves

Recorded in 19 Alabama counties.

Natural habitats

Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.

Floodplain and bottomland forests

Forests on low ground beside rivers and streams that flood from time to time.

All habitats

Also found with this plant

Wildlife whose habitat models include habitats this plant grows in, in Alabama. Shared habitat, not food. 94 animals.

All wildlife of Alabama

Ecological relationships

Who uses this plant?

What these records mean

20CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including AL

Genus host records with ranges including AL · Urtica

  • Polygonia interrogationisQuestion Mark
  • Vanessa atalantaRed Admiral
  • Acronicta oblinitaSmeared Dagger
  • Allagrapha aereaUnspotted Looper Moth
  • Chrysodeixis includensSoybean Looper Moth
  • Euplexia benesimilisAmerican Angle Shades
  • Herpetogramma pertextalisBold-Feathered Grass Moth
  • Heterophleps triguttariaThree-Spotted Fillip
  • Hypena humuliHop Snout Moth, Hop Vine Snout, Hop Looper
  • Hypena sordidulaSordid Bomolocha, Sordid Snout
Show all 20
  • Iridopsis humariaSmall Purplish Gray
  • Morrisonia confusaConfused Woodgrain
  • Pandemis lamprosanaWoodgrain Leafroller
  • Papaipema nebrisStalk Borer
  • Phlogophora periculosaBrown Angle Shades
  • Polygonia commaEastern Comma
  • Pyrrharctia isabellaIsabella Tiger Moth, Banded Woolybear
  • Vanessa carduiPainted Lady, Cosmopolite
  • Vanessa virginiensisAmerican Lady, American Painted Lady
  • Zanclognatha cruralisEarly Zanclognatha, Early Fan-Foot
Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
1BeesSoutheastern regional records

Southeastern regional records · Urtica

Individual names are not available yet.

Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
0Specialist beesPollen specialists
—BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim

No records yet · Ants · Beetles · Flies · Adult butterflies / moths · Other wasps · Other insects

Growing and identification

Plant details

Family
Urticaceae
Flower color
Green or white
Fruit begins
November
Fruit ends
July

Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.

Growing sources and scope
  • Bloom · “September to May” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
  • Flower color · “Green or white” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center differs)
  • Fruit begins · “November” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
  • Fruit ends · “July” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
  • Height · “Up to about 32 inches” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
  • Life cycle · “Annual” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
  • Light · “Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day); Partial shade (direct sunlight only part of the day, 2-6 hours)” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
  • Soil · “Moist” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
Also known as

Heart Leaf Nettle

Conservation status

Alabama rankSNR
Global rankG4G5
AL statusNot verified
Federal statusNot verified

Conservation source Global and federal source

In your garden

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Sources