DMC #15: Souper Stingers Traditional Cache

DMC#15: Souper Stingers!

This is the 15th cache of a 20-cache circuit,  consisting of 16 new + 4 existing caches adopted from Santos L Helper, which takes you anticlockwise through lovely mixed countryside from near Denton village across to near Middleton hamlet and back.

See DMC #1: Intro & Start for background info on the series, a map (also found in this cache's Gallery) and parking waypoints.

The cache, a small black bison tube, is hidden just off the road-side, some 10m NW of a farm access road to a silage stoarge area.

The cache is hidden at a location, which - at the time of placing at least - is well protected by an army of these well known stingers - the bane of summertime geocachers (along with brambles, ivy, wasp nests . . . anything else?).

So you will need to adopt a suitable approach to avoid being attacked . . . a good pre-emptive thrashing usually works, but for that you will need a suitable (eg. hiking) stick. Failing that a lively trample dance (a proper knees up) may be needed to flatten them.

The (common or stinging) nettle or stinger (Urtica dioica) is a herbaceous perennial with soft green leaves equipped with many glands and short non-stinging and special elongated stinging trichomes (hairs) from which it derives its common name and others like burn nettle/weed/hazel.

The needle-like hairs which are also on the stems have a swollen base and act like hypodermic needles. After the tip breaks off they inject a mixture of histamine, acetylcholine, 5-HT (serotonin), moroidin, leukotrienes and formic acid causing pain and/or paresthesia ('contact urticaria' - a form of contact dermatitis) when touched by humans or other animals.

It is attached to the ground via a yellow rhizome which each year produces a new stem at the beginning of the vegetative season.

Its species name dioica means 'two houses' and refers to the male and female plants (each plant has either male or female reproductive organs).

There are 6 subspecies native to Europe, Asia, North Africa and North America. It thrives in many habitats including forests, grasslands, marshes, farms, gardens and urban areas. Even though mostly associated with pain, it has many beneficial properties that are widely exploited by humans - ' they are an absolutely fantastic super-food, super-medicine,  abundant, native in UK - and they're free!'

Some QI facts . . .

1. It needs soil phosphates to thrive, which is why it grows so well near humans habitation with its phosphate-rich rubbish dumps and livestock paddocks.
2. It evolved stings to prevent being eaten by animals. However, many insects and their larvae eat it and use it as a safe place to lay eggs.
3. Despite its stings, it has long been consumed by humans as soups, broths, teas - see some interesting videos here (foraging nettles and making tea) and here (how to eat raw nettles).
4. It is used as a fibre to make string, paper and cloth (see Gallery photos). It is also an effective natural insect repellant.
5. It is used in folk medicine as a remedy for rheumatism and gout - placing  fresh plant on the painful joint can alleviate pain.
6. It can be used in treatment of arthritis, rhematism, diabetes, urinary tract infections, gastrointestinal disorders, skin and cardiac diseases, hemorrhage and flu (see here). It also has anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer properties (it differentially inhibits cancer cell proliferation) which are under study.
7. It is used in cosmetics mostly for shampoos used to remove dandruff and improve hair quality.
8. It was used in the production of fabrics in the past (before cotton was discovered). Some countries still produce textile made of it because it is cheap and has good characteristics.
9. It rich in protein, iron, vitamin A and C (4x as much gram for gram as orange), and some minerals and can be eaten as soups, salads or as an ingredient of various savoury dishes.
10. It is also used to make sweet non-alcoholic beverage and beer in Europe.
11. Its high level of valuable minerals makes it good as nutrient-rich garden compost and 'makes a great garden neighbour to help confuse common pests'.
12. Dyes extracted from its rhizome (yellow) and leaves (green) are used in fabrics and food.

See here for an interesting blog on the nettle, with illustrations and recipe and here for an informative video on this amazing plant.