a bristly, stinging Eurasian nettle, Urtica dioica, naturalized in North America, having forked clusters of greenish flowers, the young foliage sometimes cooked and eaten like spinach by the Scots.
Main Entry: stinging nettle Function: noun :NETTLE 1; especially: a perennialEurasian nettle (Urtica dioica) established in No. America and having broad coarsely toothed leaves with stinging hairs
