78 FLORA OF JAMAICA Pilca 



liths linear, more conspicuous on upper surface ; petiole 1-5 mm. 1. 

 Stipules 1*5-2 mm. 1. Peduncle "7-2 cm. 1., glabrous. Male flowers few 

 in the apex of the capitulum, glabrous, 1 mm. 1. ; dorsal appendage 

 narrowly triangular, barely half the length of the flower. Acliene pale 

 yellow, 'b-'l mm. 1.; overtopping the larger perianth-segment by one- 

 third. 



Fl. Jam. 10,683 is a smaller plant of similar habit to the typical 

 Fl. Jam. 6881, but has smaller cystoliths, and also shows slight differences 

 in the flowers, especially the. male, but we have only seen one male flower 

 from this plant. 



37. P. obtusata Liehm. in Vidensk. Selsh. SJcr. Kopenh. 

 ser. 5, ii. 300 (1851) ; dioecious or moncecious ; stem pilose ; leaves 

 broadly ovate, apex pointed, obtuse or rounded at base, with 

 large obtuse crenatures, 3-nerved (sub-5-nerved), glabrous above, 

 pilose on the nerves underneath ; stipules broadly ovate ; cymes 

 diffusely branched, with long peduncles, clusters few-flow^ered, 

 separate. Wedd. in DC. Prodr. xvi. pt. 1, 153; Urh. Syiuh. Ant. 

 iv. 203. P. pubescens Griseh. op. cit. 159 (1859) (non Liehm.). 

 P. pubescens var. montana Wedd. loc. cit. (PI. 3, f. 23.) Type 

 at Copenhagen. 



Distill ! Prior ! Somerset Woods, near Mandeville, Harris d Britton ! 

 Fl. Jam. 10,608, 10,610. Porto Rico, Montserrat, Martinique. 



Herb; stem 1*5-2 dm. high, above pilose and strigulose. Leaves 

 3-6 cm. 1., 2-3 "5 cm. br., glaucescent beneath; cystoliths linear, incon- 

 spicuous beneath; petioles l-3'5 cm. 1., shortly pilose. Stipules obtuse. 

 Cymes solitary ; peduncles 2-7 cm. 1. Male floivers subsessile. Perianth 

 1*5 mm. 1. (to apex of dorsal appendages), obovate-globulose, coherent at 

 base with linear tapering appendages, '4- "6 mm. 1. (in Jamaican specimen). 

 Female flowers sessile or subsessile. Achene '15 mm. 1., projecting slightly 

 beyond median perianth-segment ('7 mm. 1.), minutely muriculate. 



38. P. diffusa Wedd. in Ann. Sc. Nat. ser. 3, xviii. 222 (1851) ; 

 monoecious, stem frutescent below, procumbent, terete ; branches 

 diffuse, rooting, somewhat erect ; leaves rhomboid-ovate, more or 

 less acuminate, base obtuse, sharply serrate above the loAver third 

 or half, 3-nerved, upper surface with a few pellucid hairs or 

 glabrate, the nerves beneath minutely puberculous ; stipules very 

 short, revolute, persistent ; cymes androgynous, lax ; peduncle 

 much longer than the petiole.- Griseh. op. cit. 159 (in part) ; 

 Wedd. in DC. Prodr. xvi.pt. 1, 154. Urtica diffusa Sw. in Vet. 

 Handl Stochh. vi. 30 (1785) & Fl. Ind. Occ. 290. (PI. 3, f. 24.) 



Swartz ! 



Herb ; stem to 30 cm. and more, dichotomous, glabrous ; branches 

 rooting, somewhat erect, often 6 dm. and over, glabrous or (under a lens) 

 minutely puberulous on younger branches. Leaves 1*5-3 cm. 1., 1-2 cm. 

 br. ; nerves extending to the upper half of the limb, paler underneath ; 

 cystoliths, on the upper surface linear, of variable length and a few dots, 

 underneath none or very minute ; petiole *5-l cm. 1., minutely puberulous 

 (under a lens). StipiUes 1 mm. 1. Cymes lateral and terminal, laxly 

 branched, generally twice as long as the leaves, flowers very minute, 

 pedicellate. Male perianth red, about *4 mm. 1., subglobose, reddish; 

 dorsal appendages ovate-triangular, obtuse, "^barely half the length of the 

 flower. 



