The Ortiga a Wild Medicinal Plant
The nettle is an herb that grows commonly in almost all the places of Cuzco, in temperate climate and with enough heat. It is very easy to identify by the serrated edge of its leaves. They are generally wild-looking plants and do not usually measure more than one meter.
Its most striking feature and the one that has created an unfavorable fame around the world are its stinging hairs. These tiny villi that cover the entire plant inject an irritating substance with the slightest contact. It is a dark green, opposite, evergreen plant. Its peculiar hairs are very fragile. When they break, they introduce a liquid into the skin that causes irritation that can pass quickly or persist for days.
This irritation and discomfort caused by nettle is known as urticaria, and gives its name to the entire group of plants that have this same characteristic.
Those who usually play with this plant are children and also gardeners because they are very often in contact with this herb. When I was a child I liked to play with the nettle with my friends, the game was called the one that scratches loses, so we had to endure the friction of the nettle on our skin, of course we did not do it with our face only with our hands.
My mother said that this plant had many healing properties, as a child I did not understand much about it, I just liked having fun with my friends. It is true that nettle has many healing properties as a remedy for rheumatism and paralysis of the extremities, rubbing or stinging the affected part, and then taking a bath with cold water jets.
It is also useful for hair loss, as a healing in different ointments, natural dyes are also made for textiles, due to its perennial dark green color, which is what it most calls about this plant.
In different cultures they give a varied use to the nettle, over there I heard that it can also be eaten. In this way, some ancient traditions such as natural medicine are still maintained.