In article , Brian
writes
Forgive for being off topic a little. As an undergardener's boy's 2nd
assistant in Herts. I spent weeks on my knees pulling 'annual nettles' from
the strawberry beds. I have never seen or heard of them them since. Did they
really exist or were my swollen hands imaginary? It was quite a few decades
ago!

They exist. Urtica urens, as opposed to U dioica, which is the perennial
one. U dioica seems to spread mainly by runners, and I've always assumed
those little seedlings you get coming up in early summer are U urens.
Apparently U urens has male and female flowers on the same plants,
whereas U dioica has them on separate plants, but I've never let either
of them hang around long enough to find out.



--
Kay Easton

Edward's earthworm page:
http://www.scarboro.demon.co.uk/edward/index.htm