DICOTYLEDONS. 59 



above ; leaves cordate, acute at the apex, coarsely serrate, 3-nerved, 

 downy beneath, petioles slender, shorter than the blades ; stipules 

 lanceolate ; flowers in much-branched, panicled spikes, mostly dioe- 

 cious. June-»July. Tn waste places, especially on rich soil. 



2. U. URENS L. Small Xettle. Annual; stem stout, 4-angled, 

 hairy, 12-18 in. tall, with few stinging hairs ; branches slender; leaves 

 elliptical or ovate, serrate or incised, 3-5-nerved, acute or obtuse 

 at the ends, thin, hairy, petioles often as long as the blades ; stipules 

 short ; flower clusters axillary, in pairs, loose, mostly shorter than 

 the petioles. February-May. On damp soil in waste places. 



II. BCEHMERIA. 



Perennial herbs, with opposite or alternate, petioled, 3-nerved 

 leaves, destitute of stinging hairs ; flowers monoecious or dioe- 

 cious, in axillary clusters, similar to those of Urtica. 



B. CYLiNDRiCA (L.) WiUd. False Nettle. Stem erect, branch- 

 ing, pubescent, 1-3 ft. tall ; leaves often opposite and alternate on 

 the same plant, ovate or ovate-lanceolate, acuminate at the apex, 

 rounded and 3-nerved at the base, coarsely serrate with rounded 

 teeth, thin ; flowers in axillary spikes ; staminate spikes often leafy 

 near the summit, sometimes as long as the leaves ; pistillate sjukes 

 short, compact. June-»hdy. Common in nioist thickets. 



2.0. LORANTHACEiE. :\IISTLET()E F A:\I1LY. 



Parasitic slirubs or herbs: leaves opposite, coriaceous, with- 

 out stipules ; flowers moncecious or (li(eci()us, clustered or 

 solitary ; ])erianth of both calyx ami corolla, or of a calyx 

 only, or sometimes wanting; calyx tube adherent to the ovary, 

 sepals 2-<S ; stamens as many as the sepals, and oi)})osite 

 them ; ovary 1-celled, ovule 1 ; fruit a berry. 



PHORADENDRON. 



Evergreen, shrubby jdauts, ])arasitic on trees ; branches 

 greenish, jointed, and very brittle ; leaves coriaceous ; flowers 

 dioecious, in sliort, jointed sjjikes ; staminate flowers globular, 

 calyx 2-4-lobe(l, stamens sessile at the base of t]u» lobes. 



