246 CXXIIIp. URTICACE (Rendle). [ Fleurya. 
deeply divided into 4 or 5 ovate concave lobes which are valvate or 
slightly imbricate in bud. Stamens 4 or 5; filaments slightly exceed- 
ing the perianth-segments. Ovary rudimentary. Female flowers : 
Perianth with 4 more or less unequal imbricate segments. Ovary at 
length oblique; stigma ovate to linear, sometimes with a pair of 
basal appendages, ultimately hooked; ovule erect from the base. 
Achene oblique, compressed, protruding from the persistent perianth ; 
pericarp membranous. Seed-coat membranous; albumen very 
scanty ; cotyledons broad.—Annual herbs, often with stinging hairs. 
Leaves alternate, petioled, toothed, 3-nerved at the base, penni- 
nerved above. Stipules connate into one 2-fid intrapetiolar struc- 
ture. Inflorescences solitary, axillary ; clusters of flowers unisexual 
or androgynous. 
Pe seh about 12, widely distributed throughout the tropics; also in South 
Atrrica, 
Leaves ovate, rarely orbicular-ovate. 
Inflorescence typically bisexual, exceeding the leaves. 
Inflorescence a spreading panicle ... SAE ... L. F. estuans. 
Inflorescence narrow, interrupted spike-like  ... 4. F. interrupla. 
Inflorescence unisexual, relatively few-flowered, 
generally shorter than the leaf. 
Male inflorescence dichotomously branched ; 
achene } lin. long... — ae ... 5. F. capensis. 
Male flowers in dense roundish clusters on long 
peduncles ; achene 13-2 lin. long... ... 7. F. podocurp. 
Leaves elliptic to elliptic-ovate; plants dicecious; 
inflorescence many-flowered, shorter than the 
leaves... ses ae a cf ie. ... 2. F. urticoides. 
Leaves large, ovate-lanceolate, 6-7 in. long ... ... 3. F. lanceolata. 
Leaves deltoid, grossly toothed... se se ... 6. F. mooreana. 
1. F. estuans, Gaud. in Freyc. Voy. Bot. 497. A bright green 
herb ; stem erect or ascending, from a few in. to 4 or 6 ft. high, 
generally but little branched, becoming leafless in the lower portion, 
more or less furnished with rather stiff hairs in addition to which 
delicate longer frequently gland-tipped hairs may be present espe- 
cially on the younger parts, sometimes almost or quite glabrous. 
Leaves long-petioled, membranous, ovate, sometimes very broadly 
ovate, acute, base very blunt, truncate or somewhat cordate, margin 
dentate, teeth regular, broad and blunt, nerves as in the genus, 1j- 6 
in. long, 1-6 in. wide, sometimes even smaller or larger, with stiffish 
appressed hairs on both faces especially on the veins beneath ; 
petiole 3-10 in. long, generally shorter, sometimes longer than the 
leaf-blade ; stipules persistent, thinly membranous, 2-5 lin. long, 
segments narrowly subulate. Inflorescence generally a long-stalked 
spreading panicle exceeding the subtending leaf; the small clusters 
bisexual and female on the same panicle, rarely the male flowers oD 
distinct peduncles. Male flowers shortly stalked, bud globular-com- 
pressed ; perianth deeply divided into 4 (or 5) elliptic-ovate blunt 
