Boehmeria cylindrica (Linnaeus) Swartz. Common name: Swamp-nettle. Phenology: Jul-Aug; Sep-Oct. Habitat: Swamp forests, bottomland forests, bogs, tidal marshes, other marshes, other wetlands. Distribution: QC and MN south to FL and NM; West Indies; Mexico, Central America, and South America.
Origin/Endemic status: Native
Synonymy ⓘ: = Ar, C, Can, FNA3, G, GrPl, GW2, K4, Mex, Mi, Mo3, NcTx, NE, NS, NY, Pa, POWO, RAB, Tn, Va, W, WH3, WI; > Boehmeria austrina Small — S13; > Boehmeria cylindrica (L.) Sw. — S, S13; > Boehmeria cylindrica (L.) Sw. var. cylindrica — F, Il, Tat, Tx; > Boehmeria cylindrica (L.) Sw. var. drummondiana (Wedd.) Wedd. — F, Il, Tx; > Boehmeria cylindrica (L.) Sw. var. scabra Porter — Tat; > Boehmeria decurrens Small — S, S13; > Boehmeria drummondiana Wedd. — S; > Boehmeria scabra (Porter) Small — S13; Urtica cylindrica Linnaeus. Basionym: Urtica cylindrica L. 1753
Links to other floras: = Boehmeria cylindrica - FNA3
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Wetland Indicator Status:
- Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain: FACW
- Eastern Mountains and Piedmont: FACW
- Great Plains: FACW
- Midwest: OBL
- Northcentral & Northeast: OBL
Heliophily ⓘ: 5
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© Gary P. Fleming | Original Image ⭷
© Bruce A. Sorrie | Original Image ⭷
© Joey Shaw source | Original Image ⭷
© Lowell Urbatsch CC-BY | Original Image ⭷
© Richard & Teresa Ware CC-BY-NC, permission granted to NCBG | Original Image ⭷
© Joey Shaw source | Original Image ⭷
© Erik Danielson source | Original Image ⭷
© Radford, Ahles and Bell | Original Image ⭷Feedback
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Horticultural Information
Intro: Erect perennial commonly seen in swamp forests, bottomlands, bogs, marshes and ditches.
Stems: Stems usually several in a clump arising from a woody crown, 4-angled or round, unbranched and light-green, usually smooth and definitely lacking stinging hairs.
Leaves: Leaves opposite (occasionally alternate), long-petiolate, oval, to 4 in. long, with 3 noticeable veins, coarsely toothed.
Inforescence:
Flowers: Flowers in ascending, dense spikes arising from leaf axils, each usually with a small leaf at the tip; male and female flowers often on separate spikes; green or greenish-white, minute, and in small, dense, ball-shaped heads.
Fruits: Fruit a small achene.
Comments: This species is sometimes mistaken for stinging nettle (Urtica or Laportea species), but there are no stinging hairs.
Height: 2-5 ft.
plant sale text:
bloom table text:
description: Erect perennial commonly seen in swamp forests, bottomlands, bogs, marshes and ditches.
stems: Stems usually several in a clump arising from a woody crown, 4-angled or round, unbranched and light-green, usually smooth and definitely lacking stinging hairs.
leaves: Leaves opposite (occasionally alternate), long-petiolate, oval, to 4 in. long, with 3 noticeable veins, coarsely toothed.
inflorescence:
flowers: Flowers in ascending, dense spikes arising from leaf axils, each usually with a small leaf at the tip; male and female flowers often on separate spikes; green or greenish-white, minute, and in small, dense, ball-shaped heads.
fruits: Fruit a small achene.
comments: This species is sometimes mistaken for stinging nettle (Urtica or Laportea species), but there are no stinging hairs.
cultural notes:
germination code:
native range: eastern & central North America
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