There are about 500 - 800 species of nettle in the world (it all depends who's counting), most of which occur naturally in tropical regions. They are mostly herbaceous plants but there are a few small shrubs and trees. Male and female flowers are usually on separate plants. Nettles belong to the family: Urticaceae and many have specialised stinging hairs, giving rise to the common name of the plant that most people are familiar with - the stinging nettle.

Commercially nettles are important for the production of fibre (genus Boehmeria), as novelty pot plants (genus Pilea), as a medicinal herb, and vegetable for cooking (genus Urtica). In agriculture, nettles are considered weeds but it is now intensively investigated as an alternative crop in many areas that are suboptimal for food crops.

FIBRE
Nettle was the fibre of choice before cotton became widely used. It is reported that uniforms worn by Napoleon's army were woven from nettle and the German army in WWI also had to resort to nettle uniforms. In Scotland, it was used for tablecloths and sheets and was known as "Scotchcloth" in England. Today, handbags made from nettle fibre can be bought on the internet (http://www.greenol.co.uk/nett lebags.php). Nepal, particularly, has expanded it's nettle industry and is selling nettle products as "Allo" cloth.

Nettle fibres are hollow and the air trapped inside contribute to insulation. It is stronger than cotton, but the real attraction of nettle for the textile industry is that it's production is more environmentally friendly than cotton. Cotton accounts for 20% of the global usage of pesticides.

NOVELTY PLANT
Various Pilea species are known as aluminum plant or watermelon plant, artillery fern, friendship plant, and creeping charley. They do not have the stinging hairs and are grown for their foliage (velvet or "quilted"; burgundy or silver), and as a basket filler or for a terrarium.

MEDICINAL
Stinging nettle has been used for centuries to treat rheumatism, arthritis, gout, eczema and anaemia. Today, it is recognised as a diuretic and therefore used to treat urinary tract infections and kidney stones. The anti-inflammatory properties of the leaves have also been recognised as effective in treating pain resulting from arthritis and the symptoms of certain kinds of hay fever. The root extraction seems to be particularly effective in treating inflammation of the prostrate (prostatitis) while a condition known as benign prostrate hyperplasia

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