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Cnidoscolus urens
Also called Bull Nettle, Devil Nettle, Spurge Nettle, White Nettle, Finger Rot, Tropical Bull Nettle
Cnidoscolus urens is a perennial, tropical American stinging herb of the family Euphorbiaceae, and is one of some 100 species belonging to the genus Cnidoscolus (from Gk. knidē "nettle", skōlos "thorn", and Latin urens "burning"). The plant is locally known as bull nettle, spurge nettle, pringamosa, bringamosa and mala mujer ("evil woman").
This species has an erect stem and is herbaceous when young, turning woody with age and from 50 to 150 centimeters tall. Leaves are lobed and large, while the white flowers occur in cymes, producing a spiny 3-seeded capsule with seeds rich in fats and proteins, resembling those of Ricinus communis. Its carunculate seeds are usually dispersed by ants (myrmecochory) attracted by the edible elaiosome.
Cnidoscolus urens is insect pollinated and is recorded to have been visited in northern Florida by Lasioglossum pectorale and Lasioglossum weemsi/leviense. '
Treadsoftly · Mala mujer · Cnidoscolus quercifolius · Cnidoscolus regina · Texas bullnettle · Finger rot · Cnidoscolus
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Cnidoscolus urens by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts are shared under the same licence.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
