“Tread Softly,” Stinging Nettle

June 20, 2011 | By Roger Real Drouin In Flora,macro photography |

It’s always a good idea to tread softly in nature, especially near this Florida native plant. Stinging Nettle, nick-named Tread Softly, blooms beautiful in summer, but packs a sting.

This Stinging Nettle (Cnidoscolus stimulosus) grew low under amid sand pines in Seacrest Scrub Natural Area. The perennial herb is covered with stinging hairs which will produce a painful rash lasting for about an hour. Other Common Names: Spurge Nettle, Bull-nettle, Finger-rot, Tread Softly, Treadsoftly.

This native herb grows in scrub and sand scrub habitats, and this one is the first I’ve seen at Seacrest Scrub Natural Area–the highest-elevation scrub preserve in Palm Beach County.

 

 

 

No Comments

Comments are closed.

var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-17580246-1']); _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })();