In Seán OCaseys Juno and the Paycock, one of the characters quotes Aesop "Gently touch a nettle and itll sting you for your pains/Grasp it as a lad of mettle and soft as silk remains". The metaphor may refer to the fact that if a nettle plant is grasped firmly rather than brushed against, it does not sting so readily, because the hairs are crushed down flat and do not penetrate the skin so easily.In the German language, the idiom sich in die Nesseln setzen, or to sit in nettles, means to get into trouble. In Hungarian, the idiom csalánba nem üt a mennykő, the lightning bolt does not strike into nettles, alludes to the belief that bad people escape trouble or the devil looks after his own. The same idiom exists in the Serbian language – неће гром у коприве. In Dutch, a netelige situatie means a predicament. In French, the idiom faut pas pousser mémé dans les orties (do not push granny into the nettles) means that we should be careful not to abuse a situation. The name urticaria for hives comes from the Latin name of nettle (Urtica, from urere, to burn). The English word nettled, meaning irritated or angry, is derived from nettle.There is a common idea in Great Britain that the nettle was introduced by the Romans. The idea was mentioned by William Camden in his book Britannia of 1586. However, in 2011, an early Bronze Age burial cist on Whitehorse Hill, Dartmoor, Devon was excavated.
It is also eaten by the larvae of some moths including angle shades, buff ermine, dot moth, the flame, the gothic, grey chi, grey pug, lesser broad-bordered yellow underwing, mouse moth, setaceous Hebrew character, and small angle shades. The roots are sometimes eaten by the larva of the ghost moth (Hepialus humuli). It is a known host to the pathogenic fungus Phoma herbarum.Stinging nettle is particularly found as an understory plant in wetter environments, but it is also found in meadows. Although nutritious, it is not widely eaten by either wildlife or livestock, presumably because of the sting. It spreads by abundant seeds and also by rhizomes, and is often able to survive and re-establish quickly after fire. Cultivation
Field
Sowing and planting
Three cultivation techniques can be used for the stinging nettle: 1) direct sowing, 2) growing seedlings in nurseries with subsequent transplantation and 3) vegetative propagation via stolons or head cuttings. Direct sowing: The seedbed should have a loose and fine structure, but should be reconsolidated using a packer roller imminently prior to sowing. Sowing time can be either in autumn or in spring. Seed density should be 6 kilograms/hectare with row spacing of 30 cm (12 in) and 42–50 cm in autumn and spring, respectively. The disadvantage of direct sowing is that it usually leads to incomplete plant coverage. This drawback can be mitigated by covering the seedbed with a transparent perforated foil in order to improve seed germination. Further, weed control can be problematic as the stinging nettle has a slow seedling development time.