I took a short walk this weekend down to the Ebenberg, a nature preserve just south of Landau. Once occupied by the French military after the Second World War, the area is now left to nature to reclaim. My hike brought me past loads of plants and fungi that are still strange to me, some of which I will talk about in this piece. I tried to capture on film the few animals I saw (a rabbit and a hawk), but they ran or flew away too quickly for me to photograph. One of the plant species I am most interested in is stinging nettle, because I had a bad experience with it a few weeks ago.
Stinging nettle (latin name Urtica dioica) is a small plant with green leaves that grows throughout Germany and the rest of Europe. It is not native to North America, meaning it does not grow there naturally. However, stinging nettle was introduced in parts of the U.S.A. and can now be found in almost every state. Like poison ivy, you do not want to touch this plant without protection. Stinging nettle has tiny hairs on its leaves and stems, many of which act as protective needles. When you step on the plant in bare feet or try to grab it, the nettle will sting you and leave you with an uncomfortable rash. I learned this the hard way a few weeks ago when I mistook some nettles for mint.
