page_title: Stinging plant
section_title: Other families
hierarchical_section_title: Stinging plant / Plants with stinging hairs / Other families
caption_attribution_description: Cnidoscolus urens var. stimulosus (Michx.) Govaerts English: Spurge nettle at Lake Louisa State Park in Lake County, Florida, U.S.A.
context_page_description: A stinging plant or a plant with stinging hairs is a plant with hairs on its leaves or stems that are capable of injecting substances that cause pain or irritation.
  Other plants, such as opuntias, have hairs or spines that cause mechanical irritation, but do not inject chemicals. Stinging hairs occur particularly in the families Urticaceae, Loasaceae, Boraginaceae and Euphorbiaceae. Such hairs have been shown to deter grazing mammals, but are no more effective against insect attack than non-stinging hairs. Many plants with stinging hairs have the word "nettle" in their English name, but may not be related to "true nettles".
  Though several unrelated families of plants have stinging hairs, their structure is generally similar. A solid base supports a single elongated cell with a brittle tip. When the tip is broken, the exposed sharp point penetrates the skin and pressure injects toxins. The precise chemicals involved in causing pain and irritation are not yet fully understood.
context_section_description: There are also plants with stinging hairs that are unrelated to the Urticaceae:
  Boraginaceae: Hydrophylloideae
  Phacelia malvifolia (stinging phacelia)
  Wigandia spp.
  Euphorbiaceae
  Cnidoscolus spp.
  Cnidoscolus stimulosus (bull nettle or spurge nettle)
  Cnidoscolus urens (mala mujer)
  Croton ciliato-glandulosus (ciega-vista)
  Dalechampia spp.
  Cnidoscolus urens L. (stinging spurge)
  Tragia spp. (noseburn)
  Fabaceae
  Mucuna spp.
  Mucuna pruriens (cowhage)
  Loasaceae
  Loasa spp.
  Caiophora spp.
  Cevallia spp.
  Solanaceae
  Solanum carolinense (Carolina horsenettle)
caption: Cnidoscolus urens, one of a number of species called "bull nettle" or "mala mujer"
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "SONY DSC", "Image Make": "SONY", "Image Model": "DSLR-A700", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Paint Shop Pro Photo 12,00", "Image DateTime": "2011:05:17 01:56:31", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "234", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "912", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "36513", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/320", "EXIF FNumber": "71/10", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "400", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2011:05:13 16:05:35", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2011:05:13 16:05:35", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "Y", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "8", "EXIF BrightnessValue": "13/2", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "-3/10", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "116/25", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Shade", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, auto mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "150", "EXIF SubSecTime": "0", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "0", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "0", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "1842", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "2455", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "832", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Manual", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "0", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "225", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal"}