URTICACE^. (NETTLE FAMILY.) 465 



the cup-shaped rudiment of a pistil. Fert. Fl. Sepals 4, in pairs ; the 2 outer 

 smaller and spreading; the 2 inner flat or concave, in fruit membranaceous 

 and enclosing the straight and erect ovate flattened achene. Stigma sessile, 

 capitate and pencil-tufted. — Herbs, armed with stinging hairs. Leaves oppo- 

 site ; stipules in our species distinct. Flowers greenish ; in summer. (The 

 classical Latin name; from wo, to burn.) 



* Perenniah ; flower-dusters in branching panicled spikes, often dioecious. 



1. U. gracilis, Ait. Sparing! u bristli/, slender (2 - 6° high) ; leaves ovate- 

 lanceolate, pointed, serrate, 3 - 5-nerved from the rounded or scarcely heart- 

 shaped base, almost glabrous, the elongated slender petioles sparinghi brist/// ; 

 spikes slender and loosely panicled. — Fence-rows and moist ground, common. 

 Stings few. 



U. DibiCA, L. Veri/ bristli/ and stinging (2-3° high); leaves ovate, heart 

 shaped, pointed, verg deeply serrate, downg beneath as well as the upper part 

 of the stem ; spikes much branched. — Waste places and roadsides, rather rare. 

 Canada and N. Eng. to S. C, west to Minn, and IMo. (Xat. from Eu.) 



* * Annuals ; Jiower-clusters chiejlg axillary and shorter than the petiole, andro' 



gynous. 



XJ. tJRExs, L. Leaves ellipticid or ovate, very coarsely and deeply serrate 

 with long spreading teeth, the terminal teeth not longer than the lateral ones ; 

 flower-clusters 2 in each axil, small and loose. — Waste grounds, near dwellings, 

 eastward; scarce. Plant 8- 12' high, with sparse stings. (Xat. from Eu.) 



2. U. chani8edryoid.es, Pursh. Leaves ovate and mostly heart-shaped , 



the upper ovate-lance<»late, coarsely serrate-toothed ; flower-clusters globular, 



1 - 2 in eacli axil, and spiked at the summit. — Alluvial shaded soil, from Ky. 



to the Gulf States. Slender, 6 -30' high, sparsely beset witli stings. 



9. LAPORTEA, Gaudichaud. Wood-Nettle. 



Flowers moncecious or diacious, clustered, in loose cymes ; the upper widely 

 spreading and chiefly or entirely fertile ; the lower mostly sterile. Ster. Fl. 

 Sepals and stamens .5, with a rudiment of an ovary. Fert. Fl. Calyx of 4 

 sepals, the two outer or one of them usually minute, and the two inner much 

 larger. Stigma elongated awl-shaped, hairy down one side, persistent. Achene 

 ovate, flat, extremely oblique, reflexed on the winged or margined pedicel, 

 nearly naked. — Perennial herbs, with stinging liairs, large alternate serrate 

 leaves, and axillary stipules. (Named for J\L Laporte.) 



1 . L. Canadensis, Gaudichaud. Stem 2-3° high ; leaves ovate, pointed, 

 strongly feather-veined (3-7' long), long-petioled ; fertile cymes divergent: 

 stipule single, 2-eleft. — Moist rich woods. July - Sept. 



10. PI LEA, Lindl. RicHWEED. Clearweed. 



Flowers mona'cious or diacious. Ster. Fl. Sepals and stamens 3-4. Fert. 

 Fl. Sepals 3, oblong, more or less unequal ; a rudiment of a .stamen com- 

 monly before each in the form of a hooded scale. Stigma sessile, pencil-tufted. 

 Achene ovate, compressed, erect, partly or nearly naked. — Stingless, mostly 

 glabrous and low herbs, with opposite leaves and united stipules ; the stami- 

 iiate flowers often mixed with the fertile. (Named from the shape of the 

 larger sepal of the fertile flower in the original species, which partly covers 

 the achene, like the pileus, or felt cap, "^i the Romans.) 



