How I rubbed a nettle with my thumb and finger in Germany

For a gullible visitor to Germany like me, nettle (I didn't even know what the plant was called) looked like a mint. I am from the tropic and had never seen a nettle before. Here are two photos of a mint and one of a nettle for comparison.

Mint (wikipedia)

This is a korean mint (aka Agastache rugosa) www.wellgrowhorti.com

Nettle

When I visited the botanical garden in Singapore, and while I was there at the herbs garden (also available at Science Center and other parks), I would try to rub the leafy herb softly before savouring the aroma. The Korean mint is very aromatic, and several types of leafy herbs give out different aromas.

What a SURPRISE when I tried to rub a nettle with my thumb and finger. It was excruciatingly painful at first. My first thought was that a spider must had hidden under the leaf and sensing impending danger, it stung me multiple times. I retracted my fingers lightning quick and tried to suck out any poison. It was still painful and beginning to get numb. I thought I was poisoned. Still in pain, I tried to spot the spider up close (because it would be informative to doctors if I can describe the appearance of what stung me). I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw fine "needle-lets" (transparent needles/spikes as fine as hair) sticking out from the leaves of a plant I thought was a herb. Not just the leaves, but the stem and flowerlet (floret) are also covered by the needles! "What kind of a sick plant was this?", was my first thought. A plant that doesn't want to be eaten should warn predators by exhibiting large warning signs (e.g. thorns) instead of insidious and transparent needles! I was worried that I might be poisoned.

Transparent needles are everywhere on the nettle! What a crazy plant (or rather, crazy person trying to rub it).

I tried keying in many different key words to search on Google what was the plant that stung me. Using Google Image, I managed to pin point the culprit. NETTLE. I tried to search for the toxicology aspect of this plant and fortunately, I will only get a numbing and painful experience for a couple of days before I can hold on to a paper or book without the discomfort. FYI, nettle has been used as medicine to boost up immunity and other ailments (herbwisdom).

I only recovered after a week's time.