Dendrocnide moroides

Dendrocnide moroides

The Australian nettle ( Dendrocnide moroides ), also called Gympie, is an Australia-based plant of the genus Dendrocnide in the family of the Nettle family ( Urticaceae ). It grows as a shrub or tree and carries dangerous stinging hairs.

Distribution and location

The Australian nettle is in Australia, in particular Queensland widespread. Furthermore, it is widespread in the Moluccas and Indonesia. It grows in rainforests often in clearings and in other disturbed places.

Description

The Australian nettle grows as a shrub or tree, reaching heights of growth 4-10 meters. The whole plant is dense and fluffy hairy and densely covered with stinging hairs.

Their leaves are plate -like, slightly heart-shaped, pointed, and finely denticulate. They are similar in shape to that of the lime tree. The fluffy hairy leaf blades are 12 to 22 millimeters long and 11 to 18 millimeters wide. They have six to eight pairs of veins, the basal pair emerges clearly. The petiole is between 10 to 18 inches long and has 1 inch long stipules.

The Gympie is monoecious getrenntgeschlechtig ( monoecious ). The inflorescence is branched out and reaches a length up to 15 inches and up to 8 inches in width. The flower stems are up to 1.5 mm long. The small flowers have four Tepale. The male flowers have 0.75 millimeters long stamens. The female flowers have a 0.5 mm long ovary and a 2 millimeter long scar. The indehiscent fruits are ovoid about 2 millimeters long and 1.5 millimeters wide. They are enclosed by the bloom cladding.

Others

The stinging hairs are filled with a poison that can cause severe itching and severe burning pain in humans resulting from contact, which a few days, even up to several months, may persist in some cases. The stinging hairs penetrate almost any fiber-based clothing, which is why you can only partially protect front of them. In case of skin contact with the stinging hairs, the distance has proven that with hair wax strips. Many native Australian animals are insensitive to this plant, some of them even eat.

Credentials

• Flora of Australia Volume 3, 1989, ABRS / CSIRO
• Department of Environment and Conservation (NSW). Gympie Stinger
• Video post by National Geographic

Further Reading

• M. Hurley. Growth dynamics and leaf quality of the stinging trees Dendrocnide moroides and Dendrocnide cordifolia ( Family Urticaceae ) in Australian tropical rainforest: implications for herbivores. Australian journal of Botany 48, 2000.

• Nettle family