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These herbaceous perennials are common on moist ground in flood plains, woodlands, and along stream and river banks. They often occur in colonies so large that they are the only herbaceous plant present. The tough unbranched stems grow 2 to 5 feet tall from fibrous roots and are covered with stinging bristles. The leaves are opposite, thin, egg-shaped, toothed, and tapered at the tip. They measure 2 to 6 inches by 1 to 2 inches in stinging nettle and 3 to 8 inches by 3 to 5 inches in wood nettle. The 3 to 5 main veins from the base make the leaf (especially in wood nettle) strongly resemble the leaves of white snakeroot. However, the stinging hairs on the lower surface of the leaves prove the plant's identity. The tiny, green or greenish-white flowers droop in axillary clusters in stinging nettle (fig. 31) and stand upright in branching clusters at the top of the stem in wood nettles.
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