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Old 05-08-2007, 07:23 AM posted to sci.bio.botany,sci.bio.misc
a_plutonium a_plutonium is offline
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Default was Urtica dioica (stinging nettle) the plant that evolution created as a reaction to humanity?

Last week I encountered a patch of stinging nettle and had my hand
irritated for some hours. For those
unaware of stinging nettle, it is a plant with needles on its stem and
tipped with acid so as the
hand or legs brush against this nettle, the skin is irritated.

I have a question on stinging-nettle. What animal caused the evolution
of this stinging plant? Is it grazing animal
such as rabbits or some hoofed grazer? I tend to think stinging nettle
evolved because of the prescence
of humans? I wonder if stinging nettle is due solely to the prescence
of humans? That planet Earth would
not have stinging nettle if not for humanity. And whether there are
biological firsts for stinging-nettle and
Homo sapiens.

Question: is that true? Second question: If true then how old is this
co-evolving relationship?

Archimedes Plutonium
www.iw.net/~a_plutonium
whole entire Universe is just one big atom
where dots of the electron-dot-cloud are galaxies