# What nettly weed turns your skin bright red? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 4, 2012, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-nettly-weed-turns-your-skin-bright-red/614745 "2012-03-04T20:48:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2012, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-nettly-weed-turns-your-skin-bright-red/614745/1 "2012-03-04T20:48:04Z")
My Google-fu has failed. Does anyone know what kind of weed turns your skin brilliant red if you’re foolish enough to try to pull it out without gloves? :smack: There is an initial stinging, which fades as the discoloration, which looks almost like a berry stain, turns from red to purple. This is in Southern Arizona (Sonoran Desert). The weed looks a little like a large dandelion plant, but the green part is velvety with tiny nettles and the flowers are small and light yellow. Oh, …and, ow. ---
**Author:** ![srzss05](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/898d66/32.png) [@srzss05](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/srzss05)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2012, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-nettly-weed-turns-your-skin-bright-red/614745/2 "2012-03-04T21:26:24Z")
Ummm…Nettles? ---
**Author:** ![zombywoof](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/9e8a1a/32.png) [@zombywoof](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zombywoof)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2012, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-nettly-weed-turns-your-skin-bright-red/614745/3 "2012-03-04T22:05:14Z")
Also known as [Stinging Nettles](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stinging_nettle) ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2012, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-nettly-weed-turns-your-skin-bright-red/614745/4 "2012-03-04T22:35:13Z")
No. Not nettles. At least not the ones shown in the Wikipedia photo. The leaves are too big and broad and the stalks are wrong. The plant I mean is light green and the whole thing looks almost velvety. Also, there was no raised blistery rash, just a red stain that turned purple. ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2012, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-nettly-weed-turns-your-skin-bright-red/614745/5 "2012-03-06T21:27:37Z")
I found another plant and this time, instead of yanking it out with my bare hands, I [took a picture](http://home-and-garden.webshots.com/photo/2576592560027528800nnZjoy). Any idea? ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2012, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-nettly-weed-turns-your-skin-bright-red/614745/6 "2012-03-06T22:49:42Z")
You can try this identification guide, maybe you’ll have better luck than I did. [http://web2.ento.vt.edu/servlet/wid?table=grasses](http://web2.ento.vt.edu/servlet/wid?table=grasses) ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-nettly-weed-turns-your-skin-bright-red/614745/7 "2012-03-07T00:05:17Z")
From [Wiki](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irritant_contact_dermatitis#Plants)we learn that: “Many plants cause ICD by directly irritating the skin. Some plants act through their spines or irritant hairs … [or] … by chemical means.” I’d be willing to bet that others might not get the same reaction as you. Sure as shit ain’t a nettle, though - you’re right about that. ---
**Author:** ![Seydell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@Seydell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seydell)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-nettly-weed-turns-your-skin-bright-red/614745/8 "2012-03-07T02:18:15Z")
My guess would be a cryptantha. ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-nettly-weed-turns-your-skin-bright-red/614745/9 "2012-03-07T02:52:09Z")
> [@Seydell](#): > > My guess would be a cryptantha. I think that’s it, **Seydell** , thank you! Apparently it’s from the Borage family, about which Wikipedia says: > [@](#): > > Most though not all members of this family have hairy leaves… These hairs can induce an adverse skin reaction (itching, rash) in some individuals. > **[Boraginaceae](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boraginaceae)** > > Boraginaceae, the borage or forget-me-not family, includes about 2,000 species of shrubs, trees, and herbs in 146 to 154 genera with a worldwide distribution. > The APG IV system from 2016 classifies the Boraginaceae as single family of the order Boraginales within the asterids. Under the older Cronquist system, it was included in the Lamiales, but clearly is no more similar to the other families in this order than it is to families in several other asterid orders. A revision of the Boraginales,...