Laportea 



Urticaceae 



399 



50 



Map 814 



Pilea pumila (L.) Gray 



o "To 



Map 815 



Pilea fontana (Lune II ) Rydb. 



state except in the hilly counties where it becomes infrequent or rare. 

 N. B. and N. S. to Ont. and Minn., southw. to Fla. and Kans. 



1984. PILEA Lindl. Clearweed 



Pericarp relatively thin, the inside whitish or very light brown; fruit ovate, green 

 (sometimes violet), the surface more or less irregularly marked with purplish 

 brown (on immature fruit it may be dark green to brown), the total area of the 

 markings covering about half the surface, the markings, under a 25 diameter 

 magnification, appearing as ridges or excrescences; margins of fruit not con- 

 spicuously differing in color from the body; leaves generally cuneate at the base, 

 rarely somewhat rounded or truncate, the number of teeth to a side of average 



blades 8-15; plants of moist soil and usually growing in cool, shady places 



1. P. pumila. 



Pericarp relatively firm, the inside purplish; fruit ovate, blackish, dull, the surface 

 smooth but unequally bossed all over; margins of fruit conspicuously colorless 

 (whitish) ; leaves rounded, truncate or more rarely cuneate at the base, the 

 greatest number of teeth to a blade 4-9 (10) on a side; longest petioles 0.5-6.5 cm 

 long, varying according to the size of the plant; plants of very wet or springy 

 habitats 2. P. fontana. 



1. Pilea pumila (L.) Gray. (Including Pilea pumila var. Deamii (Lu- 

 nell) Fern. For a discussion of this variety see Fernald, Rhodora 38: 

 169. 1936.) Clearweed. Map 814. This plant prefers a cool, shady place 

 in which to grow and is found in moist, rich soil throughout the state. I 

 once found it growing on an old cypress log in a cypress swamp in Posey 

 County. It is usually found in colonies and when a colony in rich soil is 

 studied it will be found that the plants that are crowded are simple or 

 with few branches at the top while those on the outside of the colony may 

 have long branches even to the ground. Single plants in a similar habitat 

 may be so large that they become decumbent half their length and have 

 side branches that are nearly as long as the remainder of the main stem. 

 The plants are variable in all their parts; the branches at the base may 

 be short or long; the leaves are usually cuneate at the base although I 

 have a specimen with leaves that are truncate at the base ; the teeth of the 

 margins vary from 3-17 on a side and vary from rounded to rather sharply 



