Smallspike False Nettle

Boehmeria cylindrica

Native to: All of New England

Life cycle: Perennial

Light: Partial Sun

Soil Moisture: Medium-Wet to Medium

Height: 3’
Spacing: 18-24”

Blooms: June-August
Bloom Color: Yellow

Natural Habitat: River or stream floodplains, forests, swamps, wetland margins

Benefits: Pollinator Favorite, Deer/Rabbit Resistant Host Plant (eg. Eastern Comma, Question Mark, Red Admiral)

“Smallspike False Nettle is a host plant hotspot! Fly larva of Neolasioptera boehmeriae will form galls on the Smallspike False Nettle stems. Eastern Comma, Question Mark, and Red Admiral butterflies like to lay their eggs here, which later hatch as hungry little caterpillars that absolutely love munching on this species. Flowing-Line Bomolocha moth caterpillars also have standing reservations at this top-notch native restaurant.”

– Prairie Moon Nursery

“Small-spiked false nettle is found in rich, moist forests, riparian forests and swamps throughout New England. It resembles stinging nettle (Urtica dioica) and wood nettle (Laportea canadensis), but unlike them it does not sting.”

– Go Botany

Featured image credit: Lise Fracalossi, CC-0/Public Domain, no rights reserved. Taken in Lunenburg, MA, July 2020.