Wood Nettle, Laportea canadensis, this plant will sting you but you can bite it back and it doesn’t taste all that bad. The leaves are rich in vitamins A and C, iron and protein. The young shoots can be simmered and a tea can be made out of the shoots and leaves. Medicinally it has been used to reduce fever, facilitate childbirth and induce urination. The fibers have been used to make cordage, clothing, baskets, netting and a lot more.

Keep your eyes and ears open and your powder dry!

Wood Nettle Sources:

Audubon Guides Box Set – Birds, Tree, Wildflowers & Mammals. Computer Software.Green Mountain Digital. Version: 2.3. Web. Jul 10, 2014.

Brill, Steve. Wild Edibles Plus. Computer Software. WinterRoot LLC. Version 1.5. 2012. Web. Feb. 15, 2014.

Felter, Harvey Wickes, M.D., and John Uri Lloyd, Phr. M., Ph. D. King’s American Dispensatory, Vol. 2. Cincinnati: The Ohio Valley Company, 1905. pg. 2032-2034

Herrick, James William. Iroquois Medical Botany. Ph.D. Thesis, New York: State University of New York, Albany 1977. Print. pg. 132-133

Moerman Daniel E., Native American Ethnobotany, Portland: Timber Press. 1998. Print. pg. 295

Newcomb, Lawrence. Newcomb’s Wildflower Guide. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1977. Print. pg. 416-417

Peterson, Lee Allen. The Peterson Field Guide Series; A Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants; Eastern and Central North America. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1977. Print. pg. 150-151

United States Department of Agriculture. Natural Resources Conservation Services. Web.