THE ELM, OAK, AND NETTLE 145 
plants one learns to recognise and to avoid. Of one of 
the three, the Roman Nettle, Mr. Step, in his Romance 
of Wild Flowers, tells this delightful story. “ According 
to legend, the Roman soldiers who occupied Britain were 
disgusted with the coldness of our climate, and took to 
flagellatine themselves and each other with nettles to get 
up a circulation of their sluggish blood; but our nettles 
were considered too weak for the purpose, so they sent 
home for a more virulent variety, and we are invited 
to believe that the Roman Nettle was thus introduced to 
Britain”! No wonder they conquered the world. 
To leave romance, however, and return to fact, there 
are three points of some interest about nettles. In the 
first place, they never seem to appear on unbroken soil, 
but have a strong preference for rich, good earth which 
has been recently worked. A nice new sheltered ditch, 
a neglected garden, or slightly decaying refuse, they find 
much more to their taste than competition in the open. 
In fact, it is said, though it is always rash to make so 
general a statement, that nettles are never found except 
where man has been at work upon the soil, and are a 
sure indication of his neighbourhood. 
The second point, and one of very great interest, lies in 
their sting. Alone among our wild flowers the nettle 
possesses offensive weapons, for the ordinary thistle spike, 
or furze thorn, though uncomfortable to sit upon, does not 
inflict such vigorous punishment for the insult of a slight 
touch, although the nettle might perhaps plead that it has 
relatives which are much more terrible in their effects. 
There are nettle trees in the tropics which are positively 
disabling by their furious poison, and it is difficult to 
avoid them always when forcing one’s way through the 
forest. A warning may here be given against a foreign 
