Son of a beech .

K

Kevin the grey

Joined
Aug 26, 2005
Messages
4,106
MF@#$$%&** . Let me tell ya . I grabbed this small weed in my garden . Owwoowooo . It might have been a small ragweed plant . I,m not sure . I,m not sensitive to it . I have it brush my arms and legs with only enough discomfort to tell me to stay away . Not today boy . This was almost like an electric shock .
Immediate sharp pain . The main stem had tiny bristles all over it . I,m pretty sure thats what got me . The pain went away in about 15 minutes . I then tested the site by doing a couple of dishes . I just wanted to see what a small amount of water would do . No biggie so I waited a while showered and went on my way . One tiny white blister and a small sensation of itchy irritance . Be careful where you put your hands mother nature can be a beech .
 
In my garden, the likely plant would be Bull Nettle or Horse Nettle (Solanum carolinense). Pulled a couple out this evening... the trick is to grip them below ground level (no thorns there) and pull the long root out. Green irregular leaves, spines on stems, and white flowers with yellow stamens.
 
Could also be Wood Nettle (Laportea canadensis) - if it is, you're in luck as it makes excellent cordage. BTW, Ragweed, Common (Ambrosia artemisiifolia) or Great (A. trifida) will not give you that effect. If it is Great Ragweed, you also may be in luck as, some years, it makes an excellent drill for hand drill fires.

:) Doc :)
 
Doc you may have the kind of nettle it is if it is nettle . It turns woody and fibrous towards fall . I can,t keep them as they are close to my neighbours yard and tomato garden . The Greater ragweed you talk about is in abundance at my archery range . It seems to like to lean over parhways at arm height . Perfect to brush unprotected skin against . It seems to be the leaves that offend in passing . They give a medium burning sensation in me and can give severe red rash in others .
 
Grey-

You are supposed to drink the nettle as a cure from shortness of breath, not touch it. At least in Turkey where it's used as folk medicine. Touch it and for sure you will have a shortness of breath!

Shortness of Breath
a) Stingling nettle tea is drunk every day.
b) Black radish is hollowed out and filled with honey. A small hole is opened in the radish and a cup put under it. The patient eats the honey that flows out after waiting for a night.
c) Cones are boiled and drunk as tea.

Here's a picture of that little beauty!

http://www.arkive.org/species/ARK/plants_and_algae/Urtica_dioica/ARK006895.html?size=large

http://www.arkive.org/species/ARK/plants_and_algae/Urtica_dioica/more_info.html
 
DGG said:
Here's another bad customer that you need to clear out if you find it. The thistle.
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Yup. Know it. Hate it. Makes the yard unusable for pets and kids.

My neighbor is kind enough to donate about twelve of these into my yard each year. So far, I only have one growing.

Scotch thistle ain't even pretty to look at.
 
In Europe nettle species were used as a folk medicine as well as vegetables for centuries, if not for millennia. It is rich in vitamins, biopactive molecules (like histamin and acetylcholine) and minerals. It's fibers were used for cordage. When cooked it tastes similar to spinach.
 
littleknife said:
In Europe nettle species were used as a folk medicine as well as vegetables for centuries, if not for millennia. It is rich in vitamins, biopactive molecules (like histamin and acetylcholine) and minerals. When cooked it tastes similar to spinach.
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But it has to be nettle shoots, mature nettle just hurts :D

That stuff grows all over the place here and amazingly animals (pets at least) are immune the plant.
 
Kevin the grey said:
. The Greater ragweed you talk about is in abundance at my archery range . It seems to like to lean over parhways at arm height . Perfect to brush unprotected skin against . It seems to be the leaves that offend in passing . They give a medium burning sensation in me and can give severe red rash in others .
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Kevin, I think we are talking about 2 different plants. Do you have the Latin name? I've never known Great Ragweed to cause that kind of problem.

Doc
 
DGG said:
KG -

Here's another bad customer that you need to clear out if you find it. The thistle.

http://www.co.weber.ut.us/weeds/types/s_thistle.asp

What ever happened to good old poison ivy?
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Another perspective - Thistle (Cirsium spp.) is edible (at least some species), the stalk makes a good drill for hand drill fires, and the pappus(?) the white fluffy stuff that helps transport the seeds - makes a good tinder-it bursts into flame from the spark of an empty Bic lighter.

Doc
 
Raggus competely weedius . come on Doc you are talking to a rank amateur here . Whats a good book possibly found in a library ?

I even have people calling it poison Ivy which as far as I know should look like ....well , Ivy .
 
Kevin the grey said:
Raggus competely weedius . come on Doc you are talking to a rank amateur here . Whats a good book possibly found in a library ?

I even have people calling it poison Ivy which as far as I know should look like ....well , Ivy .
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Hey Kevin,

I'm an amateur myself. The reason I push binomials (the 2 names that make up genus and species) is because common names vary from location to location and especially on the web when you can talk to people around the world. The use of binomials is the only way you can be sure you're discussing the same plant.

Regarding books, 3 I recommend:

A Field Guide to Wildflowers, Roger Tory Peterson/ Margaret McKenny, Houghton Mifflin, 1968, ISBN# 0-395-183251

National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Wildflowers - Eastern, Wm. A. Niering/Nancy C. Olmstead, Alfred A. Knopf, 1995, ISBN# 0-394-50432-1

Newcomb's Wildflower Guide, Lawrence Newcomb, Little Brown & Co., 1977, ISBN# 0-316-60442-9

Any decent book on plants will include the binomials.

Hope this helps,

:) Doc :)
 
Did it look like this plant?


attachment.php
 
Fortunately (at least in the UK anyways) doc leaves usually grow in the same place. So if you get stung with a nettle, then just find a doc leaf and rub it over the area stung until the juice comes out, and the pain will go away.

dock_broadleaf_leafr708.JPG
 
Kevin the grey said:
Be careful where you put your hands mother nature can be a beech .
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I have been doing barefoot hiking recently, was doing really well until I wandered through something gnarly and thought I had walked on glass. The several km hike back home wasn't pleasant.

-Cliff
 
Cliff Stamp said:
I have been doing barefoot hiking recently, was doing really well until I wandered through something gnarly and thought I had walked on glass. The several km hike back home wasn't pleasant.

-Cliff
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Don,t you go where the huskies go and don,t you eat that yellow snow . L:O:L

I put a question on blade discussion about 1055 steel .
 
DGG said:
KG -

Here's another bad customer that you need to clear out if you find it. The thistle.

http://www.co.weber.ut.us/weeds/types/s_thistle.asp

What ever happened to good old poison ivy?
Click to expand...

You mentioned a treatment for shortness of breath . I was a heavy smoker for 11 years . While I have not smoked in ten years I sometimes get short of breath for no reason . In that it can even be while I am sitting down . My doc ruled the heart out . I,m just exploring the treatment not looking at it as a course of action . I,m a big boy and accept my own responsibilities . What does that treatment do to alleviate shrtness of breath ? Is it a temporary fix ?
 
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