Urtica dioica ecology & Uses

Ecology
The fruit is ripening September to October, the fruits are very versatile as a balloon or flying wing, distributed as a swimmer or as a buildup in the animal skin.

Stinging nettle is the number of butterflies as a food plant species such as the little fox and the peacock are monophagous feeding themselves almost exclusively by her. Also for the Dotted nettle bug it is an important food crop.

Use
Pharmacology and Cosmetics
As a healing drug are fresh or dried nettle leaves (folium urticae), dried nettle herb (herba urticae) and dried root (urticae radix) is used. They are used as teas, extracts and finished products.
For the leaves of the herb taken internally or a slightly diuretic effect is occupied, inwardly and outwardly they are used against rheumatic diseases. Extracts of the root are used for relief of micturition disorders in the early stages of benign prostatic hyperplasia, which contained the active ingredients is responsible is still unclear. In folk medicine and homeopathy, there are still other uses, their impact was not used.
In the cosmetics industry are out of the nettle already produced as an additive to shampoos, hair lotions and hair growth funds, since they enhance the blood circulation of scalp.
Fiber use
The Stinging nettle was until the 18th Century because of its bast fiber is an important plant, particularly suitable for example for solids, nets or ropes fell but because of their lack of industrial processing into oblivion. A first half of the 20th Konvarietät century bred with high fiber content, the fiber nettle Urtica dioica convar. fibra was under the renewed interest in alternative fiber crops processed further in the 1990s and rediscovered in breeding. In Germany, including those grown fiber nettle today in contract farming for the company Stoffkontor in Lüchow, which uses the fibers for textile production. A Finnish project is using for that purpose pure wild type.
Other use
Brennnesselabkochungen be because of the contained silica often used as a plant tonic against sucking insects, a slurry is a valuable fertilizer.
The young shoots of the nettle produce a nutritious, delicious wild vegetables. The herb is also suitable as feed for pigs, cows, sheep and poultry in particular.

Source: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gro%C3%9Fe_Brennnessel
See Also: sending flowers, online florist