# Texas Bull Nettle (*cnidoscolus texanus*) Texas Bull Nettle (Cnidoscolus texanus) is an herbaceous perennial plant native to the southern United States, particularly Texas and Oklahoma. While it features charming, fragrant white flowers that blossom throughout the summer, it is best known for its formidable defense system. The entire plant, except for the petals, is covered in stiff, hollow stinging hairs that inject a painful toxin upon contact, causing an intense burning sensation that can last for hours. Despite its hostile exterior, Texas Bull Nettle is a vital component of its ecosystem. Its seeds are highly nutritious and serve as a crucial food source for various birds and small mammals, and its fragrant blossoms attract diverse pollinators. The plant's deep taproot allows it to thrive in sandy, disturbed soils where other plants struggle, showcasing its incredible resilience. - **Category:** [Plants](https://www.snappit.app/explore/categories/plant) - **Rarity:** Common - **Danger:** 1/5 · Very low - **Snaps:** 1 - **Habitat:** Typically found in dry, sandy soils, disturbed fields, pastures, and open woodlands of the south-central United States. ![Texas Bull Nettle](https://inaturalist-open-data.s3.amazonaws.com/photos/854811/medium.jpg) Photo: Sam Kieschnick, CC BY 4.0 · [iNaturalist](https://www.inaturalist.org/photos/854811) ## Appearance This plant typically grows as a low, bushy mound, reaching 30 to 90 centimeters in height and up to a meter in width. It features deeply lobed, crinkly, dark green leaves with three to five distinct segments. The most defining visual feature is the dense covering of translucent, needle-like stinging hairs bristling along the stems, petioles, and leaves. During its blooming season from spring to late summer, it produces clusters of showy, white, tube-shaped flowers with five petal-like sepals and a pleasant, sweet aroma. ## Taxonomy - **Kingdom:** Plantae - **Phylum:** Tracheophyta - **Class:** Magnoliopsida - **Order:** Malpighiales - **Family:** Euphorbiaceae - **Genus:** Cnidoscolus ## Interesting facts - Despite their painful defenses, the seeds of the Texas Bull Nettle are fully edible, tasting remarkably like a cross between a pine nut and a macadamia nut once removed from their prickly hulls. - The plant's massive, starch-rich taproot can weigh several pounds and penetrate deep into the ground, allowing it to survive freezing winters and intense droughts. - The stinging sensation caused by the plant's hollow trichomes is due to a cocktail of chemicals, including histamine, which causes immediate pain and swelling. ## Special abilities - **Urticating Defense:** The plant is armored with hollow, silica-walled stinging hairs that break easily upon contact, injecting a blend of irritating toxins into the skin of potential herbivores. - **Drought-Resistant Taproot:** It possesses a massive, tuberous taproot that stores water and nutrients, enabling the plant to survive severe droughts and quickly regenerate after wildfires. - **Dehiscent Seed Dispersal:** Its seed pods dry out and split open explosively, shooting the large, nutrient-rich seeds several feet away from the parent plant. ## Measurements & details - **Length:** 30-90 cm - **Lifespan:** 3-15 years ## Diet & Feeding As an autotrophic plant, the Texas Bull Nettle produces its own food through photosynthesis, utilizing sunlight, carbon dioxide, water, and soil minerals. - **Primary Foods:** Sunlight, Carbon dioxide, Water, Soil minerals ## Ecological connections - **Mutualism:** Carolina Sphinx Moth (*Manduca sexta*) — Pollinated by long-tongued insects, including the Carolina Sphinx Moth, which can access the nectar at the base of the tubular flowers. - **Eaten by:** Hispid Pocket Mouse (*Chaetodipus hispidus*) — The highly nutritious seeds are gathered and consumed by various rodents, such as the Hispid Pocket Mouse, which manages to bypass the stinging hairs. - **Eaten by:** [Northern Bobwhite](https://www.snappit.app/explore/northern-bobwhite) (*Colinus virginianus*) — Foraged on by seed-eating birds like the Northern Bobwhite, which relish the protein-rich seeds that fall to the ground. ## Safety **Danger:** 1/5 · Very low No special safety notes yet. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### How to identify Texas Bull Nettle? Start with the whole plant, then compare leaf arrangement, leaf edges, stems and any flowers or fruit. Opposite leaves grow in pairs; alternate leaves come one at a time along the stem. These details tell you far more together than a single green leaf does. Plant Identifier: upload a photo and compare the visible details. ### How long is Texas Bull Nettle? 30-90 cm ### How long does Texas Bull Nettle live? 3-15 years ### What does Texas Bull Nettle eat? As an autotrophic plant, the Texas Bull Nettle produces its own food through photosynthesis, utilizing sunlight, carbon dioxide, water, and soil minerals. ### Where is Texas Bull Nettle usually found? Typically found in dry, sandy soils, disturbed fields, pastures, and open woodlands of the south-central United States. ## Where to spot - [Quartz Mountain Nature Park](https://www.snappit.app/guides/places/quartz-mountain-nature-park) — Oklahoma, US · Park - [Bastrop State Park](https://www.snappit.app/guides/places/bastrop-state-park) — Texas, US · State Park ## More Plants - [white snakeroot](https://www.snappit.app/explore/white-snakeroot) (*Ageratina altissima*) - [tree-of-heaven](https://www.snappit.app/explore/tree-of-heaven) (*Ailanthus altissima*) - [western sword fern](https://www.snappit.app/explore/western-sword-fern) (*Polystichum munitum*) - [common milkweed](https://www.snappit.app/explore/common-milkweed) (*Asclepias syriaca*) --- Source: [Texas Bull Nettle: Facts & Places to See — Snappit](https://www.snappit.app/explore/texas-bull-nettle)