荨麻目植物有草本也有木本，花小，辐射对称，多为风媒花，是植物从虫媒向风媒演化的过渡性分枝。

荨麻目植物包括许多有经济价值的品种，如桑树、无花果、榆树、大麻、苎麻等，其中也有许多具有毒性，如箭毒木的树汁见血封喉，大麻叶也可以作为麻醉毒品。也有绿化树种如榕树、构树等，药用植物也很多，忽布（啤酒花）是酿造啤酒的必需原料。

Urticales is a botanical name for what used to be an order of flowering plants. Before molecular phylogenetics became an important part of plant taxonomy, Urticales was recognized in many, perhaps even most, systems of plant classification, with some variations in circumscription. Among these is the Cronquist system (1981), which placed the order in the subclass Hamamelidae [sic], as comprising: