If there is one thing a nettle sting does, it makes you try very hard to avoid being stung a second time. This is just what nature intends. The nettle’s sting is its means of protection. It stops animals trying to eat the plant.
If you look at a stinging nettle leaf under a microscope, you will see that the small hairs covering it are really tiny tubes. These are filled with poison. They have brittle tips that snap off at the slightest touch, leaving a jagged edge. This can easily penetrate skin so that the poison can get inside it. You probably do not need reminding that stinging nettle poison can create a prickling feeling that lasts for several hours. So you would have to be pretty desperate to sting yourself deliberately, but Roman soldiers are said to have rubbed nettles on their bodies in cold climates to try to keep warm.
Picture Credit : Google
