American Stinging Nettle
Urtica gracilis subsp. gracilis
Also listed as Urtica gracilis
Native to Virginia. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 35%
Will it fit your yard?No photograph yet. Looking for an old drawing…
At a glance
Not yet recorded · Height · Spread · Light · Soil · Life cycle · Leaves · Bloom
This plant is missing most of its facts, so Quercus is looking them up in old botany books.
Recorded in 21 Virginia counties.
Who uses this plant?
33CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including VA
Genus host records with ranges including VA · Urtica
- Polygonia interrogationisQuestion Mark
- Vanessa atalantaRed Admiral
- Abrostola ovalisWhite-Shouldered Nettle Moth
- Abrostola urentisNettle Looper, Spectacled Nettle Moth, Variegated Brindle
- Acronicta impressaImpressive Dagger, Printed Dagger
- Acronicta oblinitaSmeared Dagger
- Agonopterix pulvipennellaGoldenrod Leaffolder, Featherduster Agonopterix
- Allagrapha aereaUnspotted Looper Moth
- Archips negundanaLarger Boxelder Leafroller Moth
- Chrysodeixis includensSoybean Looper Moth
Show all 33
- Dysstroma truncataMarbled Carpet
- Euplexia benesimilisAmerican Angle Shades
- Herpetogramma pertextalisBold-Feathered Grass Moth
- Heterophleps refusariaThree-Patch Bigwing
- Heterophleps triguttariaThree-Spotted Fillip
- Hypena edictalisLarge Bomolocha, Large Snout
- Hypena humuliHop Snout Moth, Hop Vine Snout, Hop Looper
- Hypena sordidulaSordid Bomolocha, Sordid Snout
- Iridopsis humariaSmall Purplish Gray
- Melanchra adjunctaHitched Arches
- Melanchra assimilisBlack Arches
- Morrisonia confusaConfused Woodgrain
- Nymphalis milbertiMilbert's Tortoise Shell, Fire-Rim Tortoise Shell
- Orthotaenia undulanaDusky Leafroller
- 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
- Herpetogramma aquilonalis
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 claimNo records yet · Ants · Beetles · Flies · Adult butterflies / moths · Other wasps · Other insects
Plant details
- Family
- Urticaceae
What its natural habitat tells you
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Also known as
Urtica gracilis subsp. gracilis
Conservation status
| Virginia rank | S4? |
|---|---|
| Global rank | G5 |
| VA status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
Will it fit your yard?
Check this plant against your county, sun and soil moisture. Conditions are checked in your browser.
Sources
- Digital Atlas of the Virginia Flora
- NatureServe Explorer
- Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
- Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Smith, Bachelder, Russell, Morales, Mosher & Seltmann 2024, Bee-Specialization-Modeling v0.6.1 (specialist host table compiled from J. Fowler's pollen specialist bee lists), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)
- Narango, Tallamy & Shropshire 2020, Few keystone plant genera support the majority of Lepidoptera species, Nature Communications