DESCRIPTION OF TWO SPECIES OF BOEHMERIA. 315 
is it worth the time to consider or inquire; but assuredly, as far as can | 
be done, since the Latin scientific names are’ not palatable to the 
uninitiated, it is very desirable to give such English names as may 
lead the mind to a familiar object, with which the one in question has 
some resemblance. In the present case the name of “ Chinese Nettle,” 
in lieu of Chinese Grass, would appear to be an improvement ; but 
then, it may be asked, why, if a “Nettle,” is not its proper Latin 
name “ Urtica” ? To this we have to answer, that the niceties of - 
botanical discrimination require that this plant and the Puya should be 
separated from the true Nettles. We then propose the word Boehmer- 
Nettle for those plants which in botanical language are called Boeh- 
merias. sis 
1. BOEHMERIA NIVEA, Qaud. 
Chinese Boehmer- Nettle, or Chinese Grass-Plant. 
(Tas. VIII.) 
Frutieosa erecta, caule petiolisque patenti-pilosis, foliis alternis longe 
petiolatis lato-cordatis basi 3-nerviis subito anguste acuminatis grosse 
serratis subtus dense albo-pannosis, paniculis axillaribus, masculis 
superioribus, floribus glomeratis, glomerulis subsessilibus, pericarpiis 
basi attenuatis. 
Boehmeria nivea, Gaudich. in Frey. Voy. Bot. p. 499 (excl. syn. Rumph) —— 
Mig. in Plant. Jungh. p. 33. 2 us 
Urtica nivea, Linn. Sp. Pl. p. 1398 (ezel. syn. Rumphii). Lour. Fl. Cochin. —— 
v. 2. p. 682, Jacy. Hist. Schembr.v. 1. 4.166. Willd. Sp. Pl. 
p.565. Wall. Cat. n. 4606. | 
Urtica tenacissima, Rows. Fl. Ind. v. 3. p. 590. Wight, Ic. Pl. Ind. i 
Or. v. 2. f. 688. ! $ 
Has. China. Inhabiting walls, according to Linnæus ; most exten- f 
sively cultivated there. Native, also, of the island of Sumatra, 
according to Marsden, cultivated on account of its fibre, and called L 
“ Caloose." Pulo Penang, probably only cultivated, where it has 3 
the Malay name of “Rami” (Rozb.). Cultivated in the Botanic te 
Garden of Calcutta, where it thrives exceedingly, and “strikes as | 
readily from cuttings as the Willow.” Rowd. E 
À shrub, 3—4 feet, or probably more, in height, erect, branched, the 
young óranches green and hairy with short spreading hairs. Leaves 
alternate (characteristic of the division Procris of Boehmeria, according — 
