104 



URTICAOEAE. 



Recorded as Bermudian by Michaux, Reade and Hems ley. Naturalized from 

 Europe. Naturalized in both eastern and western North America. The plant 

 has not been observed -in Bermuda recently. 



2. Urtica membranacea 

 Poir. THIN-LEAVED NETTLE. 

 (Fig. 120.) Annual, spar- 

 ingly stinging-bristly ; stem 

 slender, weak, ascending, 6'- 

 3 long. Leaves slender- 

 petioled, thin, coarsely-den- 

 tate, the lower broadly ovate 

 or orbicular, obtuse or acut- 

 ish at the apex, rounded or 

 subtruncate at the base, i'- 

 li' wide, the upper ovate or 

 lanceolate, acute or acumi- 

 nate at the apex; stipules 

 lanceolate-subulate; spikes 

 elongated, the upper stami- 

 nate, the lower pistillate. 



Common in waste grounds, 

 introduced from Europe. Flow- 

 ers from spring to autumn. 

 [U. chamaedroides of Hemsley.] 



Urtica dioica L., GREAT NETTLE. European, a tall perennial species with 

 compound flower-clusters recorded as Bermudian by Rein, Jones, Reade, Lefroy, 

 H. B. Small and Hemsley, has not been found by recent collectors. 



2. PILEA Lindl. 



Herbs, with opposite petioled mostly 3-nerved leaves, connate stipules, and 

 small monoecious or dioecious flowers in axillary clusters. Staminate flowers 

 mostly 4-parted (sometimes 2- or 3-parted) and with a rudimentary ovary. 

 Pistillate flowers 3-parted, the segments in most species unequal, each subtend- 

 ing a staminodium in the form of a concave scale ; ovary straight ; stigma 

 sessile, penicillate. Achene compressed. Seed-coat thin. Endosperm scanty 

 or none. [The name is with reference to the cap-like 

 larger sepal.] About 150 species, chiefly in the 

 tropics, most abundant in tropical America. Type 

 species: Pilea muscosa Lindl. 



Glabrous ; leaves entire, 2"-5" long, elliptic to oblanceo- 



late. 1. P. microphylla. 



Pubescent ; leaves crenulate, 5"-8" long, suborbicular. 



2. P. nummulariaefoUa. 



1. Pilea microphylla (L.) Liebm. ARTILLERY 

 PLANT. LACE PLANT. (Fig. 121.) Annual or bien- 

 nial, slender, glabrous. Stems erect or ascending, or 

 sometimes creeping at the base, 2'-12' long, fleshy, 

 simple or mostly branched; leaves elliptic or oblance- 

 olate, 2"-5" long, acute or aeutish at the apex, entire, 

 attenuate at the base, transversely wrinkled; petioles 

 filiform, shorter than the blades; flower-clusters very 

 small, shorter than the petioles; sepals ovate, very 

 thin, aeutish; achenes oblong, lenticular. (P. serpyl- 

 lifolia of Lefroy; Parietaria microphylla L.) 



Roadsides, walls and waste grounds. Naturalized 

 from the West Indies. Native in southern Florida and 

 throughout tropical America. Flowers nearly through- 

 out the year. Commonly planted as a border in flower- 

 gardens, and grown in vases ; both thin-leaved and thick- 

 leaved races are grown. 



