[1] It is easily confused with the visually very similar Eurasian species Urtica dioica and is still listed in some resources as a subspecies of this plant.

[3] It spreads both by wind borne seeds and by rhizomes, often forming dense stands in favorable conditions.

[2] Plants can be between 50 centimeters and 3 meters in height with stems that can be simple or branched.

[1] While this was accepted for a time the visual similarity caused botanical sources like George Neville Jones's 1945 Flora of Illinois to only list Urtica dioica.

It showed the North American nettles to be a unified group that is genetically distinct [6] As of 2023 the major botanical source Plants of the World Online (POWO) lists Urtica gracilis as a valid species.

In South America it limited to the more temperate areas in the countries of Peru, Chile, and Argentina.