Urtica gracilisAiton

WFO wfo-0001143258 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC BY / CC BY-SA

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Urtica gracilis, photographed by Violet T.
fig. a Violet T., CC BY 4.0 / 2022-06-12 / obs. 205848423
Urtica gracilis, photographed by Jonathan Curley
fig. b Jonathan Curley, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 201691072
Urtica gracilis, photographed by Tyler Ekholm
fig. c Tyler Ekholm, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 197119981
Urtica gracilis, photographed by J. Roe
fig. d J. Roe, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 195208446
Urtica gracilis, photographed by Eric Schmidt
fig. e Eric Schmidt, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 194063681
Urtica gracilis, photographed by Lexi Destria
fig. f Lexi Destria, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 193331718
Urtica gracilis, photographed by John Brew
fig. g John Brew, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 195768305
Urtica gracilis, photographed by Sergei Maslov
fig. h Sergei Maslov, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 192346405

Every figure is a research-grade observation under CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA, rehosted with the photographer’s name, the licence and the observation it came from. Photographs under a NonCommercial licence are excluded from this site and are never stored, which costs us a great many pictures and is not negotiable.

Native range 73 botanical countries

Regions where Urtica gracilis is native: Alabama, Alaska, Alberta, Arizona, British Columbia, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Labrador, Louisiana, Maine, Manitoba, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mexico Central, Mexico Gulf, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Northwest, Mexico Southeast, Mexico Southwest, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Brunswick, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Newfoundland, North Carolina, North Dakota, Northwest Territories, Nova Scotia, Ohio, Oklahoma, Ontario, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Prince Edward I., Québec, Rhode I., Saskatchewan, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming, Yukon, Argentina Northeast, Argentina Northwest, Argentina South, Chile Central, Chile North, Chile South, Guatemala, Peru AlabamaAlaskaAlbertaArizonaBritish ColumbiaCaliforniaColoradoConnecticutGeorgiaIdahoIllinoisIndianaIowaKansasKentuckyLabradorLouisianaMaineManitobaMarylandMassachusettsMexico CentralMexico GulfMexico NortheastMexico NorthwestMexico SoutheastMexico SouthwestMichiganMinnesotaMississippiMissouriMontanaNebraskaNevadaNew BrunswickNew HampshireNew JerseyNew MexicoNew YorkNewfoundlandNorth CarolinaNorth DakotaNorthwest TerritoriesNova ScotiaOhioOklahomaOntarioOregonPennsylvaniaPrince Edward I.QuébecSaskatchewanSouth DakotaTennesseeTexasUtahVermontVirginiaWashingtonWest VirginiaWisconsinWyomingYukonArgentina NortheastArgentina NorthwestArgentina SouthChile CentralChile NorthChile SouthGuatemalaPeru DelawareRhode I.
Native distribution of Urtica gracilis, after Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Introduced, extinct and doubtful records are excluded, so this is where the plant is from, not everywhere it now grows. Regions too small to draw at this scale are marked with a dot.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Alabama ALA NORTHERN AMERICA
Alaska ASK
Alberta ABT
Arizona ARI
British Columbia BRC
California CAL
Colorado COL
Connecticut CNT
Delaware DEL
Georgia GEO
Idaho IDA
Illinois ILL
Indiana INI
Iowa IOW
Kansas KAN
Kentucky KTY
Labrador LAB
Louisiana LOU
Maine MAI
Manitoba MAN
Maryland MRY
Massachusetts MAS
Mexico Central MXC
Mexico Gulf MXG
Mexico Northeast MXE
Mexico Northwest MXN
Mexico Southeast MXT
Mexico Southwest MXS
Michigan MIC
Minnesota MIN
Mississippi MSI
Missouri MSO
Montana MNT
Nebraska NEB
Nevada NEV
New Brunswick NBR
New Hampshire NWH
New Jersey NWJ
New Mexico NWM
New York NWY
Newfoundland NFL
North Carolina NCA
North Dakota NDA
Northwest Territories NWT
Nova Scotia NSC
Ohio OHI
Oklahoma OKL
Ontario ONT
Oregon ORE
Pennsylvania PEN
Prince Edward I. PEI
Québec QUE
Rhode I. RHO
Saskatchewan SAS
South Dakota SDA
Tennessee TEN
Texas TEX
Utah UTA
Vermont VER
Virginia VRG
Washington WAS
West Virginia WVA
Wisconsin WIS
Wyoming WYO
Yukon YUK
Argentina Northeast AGE SOUTHERN AMERICA
Argentina Northwest AGW
Argentina South AGS
Chile Central CLC
Chile North CLN
Chile South CLS
Guatemala GUA
Peru PER

Region boundaries approximated from Natural Earth (public domain) and mapped to TDWG World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD) level-3 botanical countries (Brummitt 2001). Indicative, not the official WGSRPD geometry.

Also published as 33 synonyms

A synonym is not an error. It is a record of botanists disagreeing, in print, about where this plant belongs. Each of these was somebody’s considered answer.

  • Urtica aquatica Liebm.
  • Urtica breweri S.Watson
  • Urtica buchtienii H.Ross
  • Urtica californica Greene
  • Urtica cardiophylla Rydb.
  • Urtica dioica subsp. gracilis (Aiton) Selander
  • Urtica dioica subsp. holosericea (Nutt.) Thorne
  • Urtica dioica var. californica (Greene) C.L.Hitchc.
  • Urtica dioica var. diplotricha (Phil.) Wedd.
  • Urtica dioica var. gracilis (Aiton) Roy L.Taylor & MacBryde
  • Urtica dioica var. holosericea (Nutt.) C.L.Hitchc.
  • Urtica dioica var. lyallii (S.Watson) C.L.Hitchc.
  • Urtica dioica var. mollis (Steud.) Wedd.
  • Urtica dioica var. occidentalis S.Watson
  • Urtica dioica var. procera (Muhl. ex Willd.) Wedd.
  • Urtica diplotricha Phil.
  • Urtica gracilis f. densa Jeps.
  • Urtica gracilis f. greenei Jeps.
  • Urtica gracilis var. densa (Jeps.) Jeps.
  • Urtica gracilis var. greenei (Jeps.) Jeps.
  • Urtica gracilis var. holosericea (Nutt.) Jeps.
  • Urtica gracilis var. latifolia Farw.
  • Urtica holosericea (Nutt.) Nutt.
  • Urtica holosericea Nutt.

and 9 more.

Sourcesevery claim on this page

  1. World Flora Online Plant List. accepted name, authority, classification. CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-12.
  2. iNaturalist. photographs and flowering annotations, CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA only. per photograph. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
  3. Kew, World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP v16). native distribution by TDWG level-3 botanical country, and life form. CC BY 3.0. Retrieved 2026-06-04.

We publish what we can source and we say so when we cannot. This page has no care advice and no toxicity claim, because we do not yet have those from a source we can cite.