Nettle
Urtica dioica
Description
A perennial plant up to 1.5 meters tall, with lance-shaped leaves and green flowers with yellow stamens.
Used plant parts
Healing Properties
Blood-purifying and blood-building, lowers blood sugar, promotes bowel movements, anti-allergenic, used for liver, gallbladder, spleen, and stomach issues.
Applications: Nettle tea has a blood-purifying effect, revitalizes, and alleviates fatigue. Therefore, a three-week nettle tea cure would be advisable every spring when the first shoots emerge. You will feel less drained.
Nettle tincture is successfully used to thicken the hairline in cases of thinning hair. It is also used to strengthen the scalp in cases of dandruff problems.
For natural pest control, a large amount of nettle is placed in a bucket and covered with cold water. This mixture is left to steep until the nettles are leached. The liquid is then strained off, resulting in a natural "spray."
The nettle, although feared for its stinging hairs, is a valuable medicinal herb. As early as the 1st century, the Greek physician Dioscorides knew of several applications: fresh chopped leaves as a poultice for septic wounds, the juice for nosebleeds, and boiled leaves mixed with myrrh to stimulate menstruation. Today, nettle is used for hay fever, arthritis, and anemia, and somewhat surprisingly, even for nettle rash.
Other plants of the trail
The plants of the trail
- Arnica
- Eyebright
- Clubmoss
- Burnet Saxifrage
- Birch
- Tormentil
- Broadleaf Plantain
- Nettle
- Speedwell
- Angelica
- Fern
- Spruce
- Lady’s Mantle
- Heather
- Raspberry
- Coltsfoot
- Iceland Moss
- St. John’s Wort
- Small Willowherb
- Green-winged Orchid
- Mullein
- Mountain pine
- Dandelion
- Meadowsweet
- Masterwort
- Wild Thyme
- Horse mint
- Yarrow
- Cowslip
- Bilberry
- Plantain
- Rowan berry
- Horsetail
Notes on the Herbal Education Trail
The abundance of Alpine flowers on the mountains from June to early August is a beautiful reward for the climb along the herbal education trail. In all these plants lies not only beauty but often health benefits as well. All the useful and beneficial gifts from nature can certainly not replace a doctor.
But taking responsibility for prevention and, above all, paying attention to our body’s signals in time is a very good step toward effective folk medicine. On behalf of the Plattform Planneralm 3000, I wish you much joy in rediscovering our natural world!
Andrea Stieg, Wild Herb Guide
With the support of
The content of the herbal education trail information has been created with care. However, errors can never be fully excluded. Advice on the use of plants is not medical guidance and has no legal implications. For questions regarding the content, you can contact Andrea Stieg directly; she is available at the Alpengasthof Grimmingblick: Planneralm 18, 8953 Donnersbach, +43 3683 / 8105 · info@grimmingblick.at
Content responsibility: Plattform Planneralm 3000 e.V.
Photos of the herbal education trail plants: © Harald Waupotitsch, (Arnica, Eyebright, Clubmoss, Burnet Saxifrage, Birch, Tormentil, Broadleaf Plantain, Nettle, Speedwell, Fern, Spruce, Lady’s Mantle, Yellow Bedstraw, Heather, Raspberry, Coltsfoot, Iceland Moss, St. John’s Wort, Orchid, Mountain Pine, Dandelion, Meadowsweet, Masterwort, Wild Thyme, Horse Mint, Yarrow, Cowslip, Bilberries, Rowan, Willowherb, Horsetail) and iStockphoto.com (Mullein, Narrowleaf Plantain, Angelica).
Technical and communicative implementation: Harald Waupotitsch | Werte Dialog
AlpenJones Werte Dialog initiated by Harald Waupotitsch
Conscious communication that connects and moves.
