Boehmeria cylindrica

Common Names

False Nettle, Smallspike False Nettle, Bog Hemp

Summary

Boehmeria cylindrica, commonly called False Nettles or Bog Hemp, is a herbaceous perennial in the Urticaceae native to North America, it grows about 2 to 3 feet tall, with opposite leaves that are elliptic to lance or broadly ovate, 5 to 18 cm long and 2 to 10 cm wide, and a rough texture with three main veins, leaves sit on long petioles, and the plant lacks stinging hairs, tiny greenish white flowers form dense, upward pointing spikes 2 to 3 inches long in the leaf axils, wind pollinated and producing small brown achenes that mature in autumn, and it is dioecious, requiring male and female plants for seed production, in cultivation, it prefers moist, well drained soils and tolerates light shade to full sun, commonly occupying moist woodlands, swamps, bogs, marshes, wet meadows, and ditches, and can spread to form dense clumps, propagation is by seed or division, and the species is hardy in USDA zones 4a to 10b, historically, stems yielded fiber for cordage and nets, and the plant serves as a larval host for several butterflies, supporting wildlife in native plantings and erosion control contexts, it is not stinging and not toxic to mammals

Lifecycle

Perennial

Height

24-39 inches

Spread

0.5-5.5 feet

Hardiness Zones

Zones 4a-10b

Sunlight Requirements

Ideally Partial Shade to Full Sun; tolerates both sun and shade.

Soil Type

Moist, loamy soil

Soil Drainage

Moist to wet soils

Soil pH

5.5-7.0

Bloom Color

Greenish-white

Bloom Time

Summer–Fall

Foliage Color

Green, including bright green, dark green, and yellowish green (yellowish green in sunnier locations).

Fall Foliage Color

Yellowish-Green

Leaf Lifecycle

Deciduous

Growth Rate

Fast

Seasons of Interest

Summer and Fall

Propagation Methods

Seeds, Division

Attracts Wildlife

Butterflies: Yes (larval host plant for several butterfly species)