Laportea canadensis (Wood nettle)

Laportea canadensis (L.) Weddell

Wood nettle

Kingdom	Plantae	Plants, but not fungi, lichens, or algae
Subkingdom	Tracheobionta	Vascular plants—plants with a “circulatory system” for delivering water and nutrients
Division	Magnoliophyta	Flowering plants, also known as angiosperms
Class	Magnoliopsida	Dicotyledons—plants with two initial seed leaves
Subclass	Rosidae	Roses, legumes, proteas, dogwoods, hydrangeas, mistletoes, euphorbias, grapes, many more
Order	Urticales	Includes cannabis, nettles, mulberries, elms, others
Family	Urticaceae	Nettle family
Genus	Laportea	For Francois L. de Laporte, Count of Castelnau, Entomologist of the 19th century
Species	canadensis	“Of or referring to Canada”

About plant names...

Wood nettle is native to North America.

Plants: 24-48" (60-121 cm) high, found in moist woods. Their stems have stiff white hairs that sting if you rub against them, producing a rash and a strong burning sensation that usually lasts about an hour.

Leaves: Alternate, up to 4" (10 cm) × 6" (15 cm), egg-shaped, with coarse serrations.

Flowers: Male flower clusters are white or greenish white, in loose branching clusters. Each flower is less than ⅛" (3.2 mm) across, with 5 petals. They appear from July to September.

Fruits: Oblique dry seeds.

Edibility: Plants require careful handlings, but the young leaves are edible, nutritious, and delicious, like spinach. Cooking destroys the small stinging barbs on the leaves, but use gloves when harvesting the plants. Boiling doesn’t work well, but steaming produces good results.

7/18/2017 · Tobyhanna State Park, Pennsylvania
≈ 7 × 4½" (18 × 12 cm)

7/18/2017 · Tobyhanna State Park, Pennsylvania
≈ 8 × 5" (20 × 13 cm)

7/18/2017 · Tobyhanna State Park, Pennsylvania
≈ 7 × 4½" (18 × 12 cm)

See this article by Steve Brill on distinguishing among nettles and related plants. Here are some similar species:

	You are here Laportea canadensis	*Boehmeria cylindrica*	*Acalypha rhomboidea*
Common Name	wood nettle	false nettle	three-seeded mercury
Plant	24-48" (60-121 cm) high. Stems have *stiff white hairs that sting* if you rub against them.	4-63" (10-160 cm) high, and favor shady wooded areas. Stems are smooth, without the irritating hairs of stinging nettle.	6-24" (15-60 cm) tall, with a stem that is *hairless or covered with fine white hairs. Bracts beneath flowers, stems, and leaf undersides turn copper-colored*.
Flowers	Male flower clusters are white or greenish white, in loose branching clusters. Each flower is less than ⅛" (3.2 mm) across, with 5 petals. They appear from July to September.	Flowers *occur on straight spikes that emerge from the stem,* in clusters of small, inconspicuous green flowers. Each spike is often tipped by a couple of small leaves. Flowers appear from July to August.	Flowers are greenish-tan, and tiny—less than ⅛" (3.2 mm) across. They flower from July to October.
Leaves	Alternate, up to 4" (10 cm) × 6" (15 cm), egg-shaped, with coarse serrations.	Usually opposite or nearly so. They are roughly egg-shaped, with sharp tips and teeth. (More precisely, they are elliptic, lanceolate to broadly ovate.) The leaves are 1¾-7" (5-18 cm) × ¾-4" (2-10 cm).	Leaves are alternate, lance-like or oval with sharp tips, 3½" (8.9 cm) × 1" (2.5 cm), with blunt serrations.
Fruit	Oblique dry seeds.	Spiky little balls.	A 3-lobed roughly spherical fruit containing 3 seeds.
Range/ Zones
Habitats	Moist woods, streambanks, in rich soils	Moist, deciduous woods; wet meadows; swamps, bogs, and mashes	Open woods, moist soils, gravel bars, waste ground, roadsides, railroads.
Type	Wild	Wild	Wild

	*Urtica dioica ssp. gracilis*	*Pilea pumila*
Common Name	stinging nettle	clearweed
Plant	24-39" (60-100 cm) high, rarely up to twice that. The entire plant is covered in stinging hairs.	6-24" (15-60 cm) high, with smooth, round, translucent stems. They *do not have stinging hairs*.
Flowers	Plants are monoecious—male staminate flowers appear on the same plants as female pistillate flowers. Male flowers are grayish yellow, with four tepals. Female flowers have four tepals too, but in different-sized pairs. They are gray-green and hairy. The flower clusters resemble catkins.	Both male and female flowers are on each plant. Fowers are ⅛" (3.2 mm) long, greenish-white or greenish-yellow, hanging in narrow bunches from the axils of the upper leaves.
Leaves	Opposite, oblong, cordate, and serrate (with sawtooth edges). They are 1-6" (3-15 cm) long.	Leaves occur in opposite pairs, each 1-5" (2.5-12 cm) long by ½-2½" (1.3-6.3 cm) wide. Leaves are oval-shaped and coarse-toothed, with three prominent veins and textured leaves. The leaves are bright green, usually shiny, and become yellow in the fall.
Fruit	Each inner pair of tepals encloses a single deltoid to ovoid seed.	Tiny green seeds (achenes) sometimes have black stripes.
Range/ Zones
Habitats	River deltas, floodplains, margins of deciduous woodlands, fencerows, and waste places	Wet upland or floodplain forests, crevices in rocky canyons, and shady wetlands, streambanks.
Type	Wild	Wild