Stinging Nettle
Urtica dioica
49
Good
Native to West Virginia (estimated). How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 82%
- Height
- 3–9 feet
- Spread
- 1–3 feet
- Light
- Dappled sunlight, Full sun, Partial shade
- Soil moisture
- Usually moist
Space about 2 ft apart from its recorded spread, about 25 per 100 sq ft. Enter your bed size for a count
Will it fit your yard?
At a glance
- Life cycle
- Perennial
Not yet recorded · Leaves · Bloom
This plant is missing most of its facts, so Quercus is looking them up in old botany books.
Recorded in 2 West Virginia counties.
Also found with this plant
Wildlife whose habitat models include habitats this plant grows in, in West Virginia. Shared habitat, not food. 91 animals.
Widespread birds also seen here (36)
Found in many habitats here, so not listed above.
- Alder Flycatcher
- American Crow
- American Goldfinch
- American Kestrel
- American Robin
- Belted Kingfisher
- Blue Grosbeak
- Blue Jay
- Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
- Cedar Waxwing
- Chimney Swift
- Chipping Sparrow
- Common Nighthawk
- Common Raven
- Cooper's Hawk
- Eastern Kingbird
- Eastern Towhee
- European Starling
- Great Crested Flycatcher
- Great Horned Owl
- Least Flycatcher
- Mourning Dove
- Northern Cardinal
- Northern Flicker
- Northern Mockingbird
- Osprey
- Purple Finch
- Red-tailed Hawk
- Ruby-crowned Kinglet
- Sharp-shinned Hawk
- Spotted Sandpiper
- Tufted Titmouse
- Turkey Vulture
- Wild Turkey
- Yellow-breasted Chat
- Yellow-rumped Warbler
Ecological relationships
Who uses this plant?
32CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including WV
Genus host records with ranges including WV · Urtica
- Polygonia interrogationisQuestion Mark
- Vanessa atalantaRed Admiral
- Abrostola ovalisWhite-Shouldered Nettle Moth
- Acronicta impressaImpressive Dagger, Printed Dagger
- Acronicta oblinitaSmeared Dagger
- Agonopterix pulvipennellaGoldenrod Leaffolder, Featherduster Agonopterix
- Allagrapha aereaUnspotted Looper Moth
- Autographa bimaculataTwo-Spotted Looper Moth
- Chrysodeixis includensSoybean Looper Moth
- Dysstroma truncataMarbled Carpet
Show all 32
- 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
Growing and identification
Plant details
- Family
- Urticaceae
- Hardiness
- Zones 4a–10b
- Flower color
- Green or white
What its natural habitat tells you
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Growing sources and scope
- Flower color · “Green or white” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center differs)
- Hardiness · “Zones 4a–10b” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Height · “3–9 feet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; Fire Effects Information System: Urtica dioica, Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, Minnesota Wildflowers differ)
- Life cycle · “Perennial” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Light · “Dappled sunlight (shade through upper canopy all day); 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 (ranked first; Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center differs)
- Soil · “Moist; Occasionally wet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center differs)
- Spread · “1–3 feet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
Also known as
European Stinging Nettle; Great Nettle
Conservation status
| West Virginia rank | S5 |
|---|---|
| Global rank | G5 |
| WV status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
In your garden
Will it fit your yard?
Check this plant against your county, sun and soil moisture. Conditions are checked in your browser.
Choose a county to begin.
Sources
- USDA PLANTS
- West Virginia occurrence source
- 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