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Upright pellitory

Parietaria officinalis

Also called Lichwort, Pellitory-of-the-wall, Erect pellitory-of-the-wall, Eastern Pellitory Of The Wall, Wall Pellitory, White Pellitory

Upright pellitory
Photo: User:Chrizz, CC BY-SA 3.0

Upright pellitory is a perennial herb of the nettle family that grows on old walls, rubbish and waste ground, and is also known as lichwort. Its leaves are non-stinging, unlike true nettles, and its pollen is a known cause of hay fever and allergy.

Family
Urticaceae (Nettle family)
Grows as
Perennial
Light
Part shade, Full sun
Water
Water sparingly; it tolerates dry conditions once established.
Soil
Poor, free-draining soil or rubble; it thrives in gritty, lime-rich conditions.
Temperature
Hardy in temperate climates; tolerates cold winters.
How easy
Easy
Native range
EC. & S. Europe to N. Iran and Turkmenistan
Climate
temperate

About

Parietaria officinalis, the eastern pellitory-of-the-wall, also known as upright pellitory and lichwort, is a plant of the nettle family. Its leaves, however, are non-stinging. The plant grows on rubbish and on walls, hence the name.

The pollen is a cause of allergy.

Safety

The leaves and flowers of P. officinalis contain the flavonoids kaempferol-3-bioside, the 3-glucosides and 3-rutinosides of quercetin, kaempferol and isorhamnetin, 3-sophorosides of quercetin and kaempferol and 3-neohesperosides of kaempferol and isorhamnetin. They also contain caffeoylmalic and two pyrrole acids.

Other Parietaria plants

Spreading pellitory

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Parietaria officinalis by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.

The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.

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.

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