Thursday, May 14, 2026

Fort Liberty Series – Bull Nettle

 Note from the Author: New wild plant!

 

 

This plant is a great example of look but don't touch. Turns out I'm kinda immune to it though since I handled it just thinking it was somewhat prickly and not dangerous; go figure.



 

Common Name: Bull Nettle

 

Other Common Names: Finger Rot, Spurge Nettle, Tread Softly.

 

Botanical Family: Euphorbiaceae (The Poinsettia Family)

 

Botanical Latin Name: Cnidoscolus stimulosus

 

Description & Habitat:

          Bull Nettle is a plant that catches the eye because it looks so strange that one has to wonder if it even belongs in the landscape at all. It is a perennial member of the Poinsettia family that has an upright stature and is commonly found in Long leaf Pinelands, Turkey Oak Scrub lands, by the roadside and in fields that have been allowed to lay fallow in North Carolina. Bull Nettle’s leaves are palmately lobed and may have anywhere from three to five lobes that make the leaf resemble a fig or grape leaf in shape. Two of this plant’s alternate names are apt warnings as it is known as Finger Rot and Tread Softly because the plant is covered in stinging hairs much like Stinging Nettle. The hairs on Bull nettle are why its specific epithet is ‘stimulosus’ which when translated from Latin means to goad or to prod.  The issue with this plant is that it has a long taproot and is very difficult to transplant, it also in the garden is noted to become weedy and hard to control. Although the white tube flowers are very pretty and the foliage is interesting, this plant may be one that has no use in foraging except as some form of defensive landscaping.

 

Special Toxicity Note:  

          This plant contains an as yet unidentified cyanogenic glycoside and thus is not suitable for use as a food, herb or medicine.

 

When & What to Harvest:

          This plant is not considered safe to eat.

 

Related Plants:

          None are noted in reference material however, some online sites suggest that (Cnidoscolus urens) is a different plant. In reality, the aforementioned plant is a outdated botanical Latin name for Bull Nettle.

 

Recipe:

          Unfortunately, there are no recipes for this one.

 

 

Additional Information: (If applicable)

https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/cnidoscolus-stimulosus/

 

Where to get Seed or Bare Root Plants:

None known.

 

With all that garden goodness covered this is the part of the blog where I have to advertise for the Fayetteville City Market. Now I know you readers probably don’t much like advertisements, but my booth at the City Market helps to cover the costs of running the test garden and literally maintains the Research & Development budget that is used to bring you the information that has made up the backbone of this blog.  In addition to being able to process card payments we now take CashApp payments so your payment options for my product have tripled. With that said; if you want to get some GMO-free, Organic fruit, herbs, flowers and perennials, come on down to the Fayetteville City Market on 325 Maxwell Street in downtown Fayetteville between the hours of 9:00 am and 1:00 pm on Saturdays. Even in bad weather the market goes on though you might have to look for me under the ‘arches’ of the Transportation Museum’s front entryway.

 

Spring Plants

Basil, Sweet Genovese

Onion, Yellow Salad

Pepper, Carolina Wonder Bell (mild)

Pepper, Ancho/Poblano (spicy 1-2k SHU)

Pepper, Jalafuego (spicy, 4-6k SHU)

Pepper, Ghost (hot!!, 1-1.2 million SHU)

Pepper, Carolina Reaper (hot!!! 1.5-2.2 million SHU)

Tomato, Lemon Cherry

Tomato, Chocolate Cherry

Tomato, Midnight Snack

Tomato, Black Krim

Tomato, Lemon Boy

 

Summer Plants

-TBA-

 

Garden Supply

Live Mushroom Compost, 1 Gallon

Live Mushroom Compost, 3 Gallon

 

Plants Coming Soon:

Spineless Prickly Pear

-Others TBA-

 

 

How to stay in Contact with Us!

All you need to keep up with all our activities is to have a Nextdoor account and to look for the ‘Sustainable Neighbors of Fayetteville’ group and ask to join! You don’t have to live in Fayetteville to join us! Feel free to ask all your garden questions of our knowledgeable membership and post your cool garden pictures.

 

Sustainable Neighbors of Fayetteville

 

Also please take a gander at the YouTube version of this blog:

The Videos: Look Here

>Newest videos (1): ‘Phenomenal’ Lavender

 

Meetings are still going on! Our next (unofficial) meeting is May 16th at the Fayetteville City Market at 325 Franklin Street between 9:00 am and 1:00 pm. If you can’t make it to the City Market come on down to the North South Brewery Market which is at 304 Williams Street (Right off West Russel Street), between 1pm and 5pm every Saturday.

No comments:

Post a Comment