Pellitory-of-the-wall
Parietaria judaica
Family · Urticaceae · Irritating
The unremarkable herb growing at the foot of every old wall, which almost nobody notices. It is a nettle relative, it does not sting, and it is one of the main causes of respiratory allergy in the Mediterranean.
Walls and rocks · Town and roadside · Roadsides and waste ground
Also known asspreading pellitory, wall pellitory
How to tell it
Reddish brittle stems, sprawling or propped against the wall. Alternate oval leaves, bright green, covered in short hairs that cling slightly to clothes. Insignificant greenish flowers in the axils, almost all year.
What it is confused with
Stinging nettle
Urtica dioica
Same family, same kind of place. Nettle has opposite, sharply toothed leaves and stings; pellitory has alternate, smooth-edged leaves and does not.
Open sheet →What it is for
It had traditional use in infusions and poultices, and served to scrub glass and copper. What matters today is the other side: it flowers almost all year and its pollen is highly allergenic, with peaks that catch hay-fever sufferers outside the usual season.
With documented traditional uses. Not a therapeutic indication and not a dose.