Ptiea:\ Urticacece. 107 



18. PZXiEA, Lindl. 

 Glabrous herbs; 1. opposite, base 3-veined ; stip. connate, 

 sometimes obsolete ; fl. minute, mono- or dioecious, in axillary 

 dichotomous spreading cymes; male fl. : — sep. 2-4; stam. 2-4, 

 fil. inflexed in bud; pistillode stout; fem. fl. : — sep. 3-4, 

 minute, unequal, dorsal longest, each with a staminode at its 

 base ; ov. straight, stigma sessile, penicillate, ovule erect ; 

 achene compressed, endosperm scanty, cotyledons broad. — 

 Sp. about 160 ; 20 in Fl. B. Ind. 



Achene smooth, or nearly so. 



Cymes long-peduncled i. P. Wightii. 



Cymes short-peduncled 2. P. STIPULOSA. 



Achene granular 3. P. trinervia. 



1. P. Wig-htii, Wedd. in Ann. Sc. Nat. ser. 4, i. 186 (1854). 

 Thw. Enum. 259. Wedd. in DC. Prod. xvi. i, 125. C. P. 2185. 

 Fl. B. Ind. V. 554. Wight, Ic. t. 1974 {P. radicans). 



Stem 1-2 ft., slender, creeping below; 1. \-\ in., ovate to 

 orbicular-ovate, coarsely serrate, membranous, flaccid ; petiole 

 about half as long as the blade; stip. small, triangular, or 

 obsolete ; cymes long - peduncled, androgynous, branches 

 divaricate ; male sep. 4, dorsally horned below the tip ; fem. 

 sep. very unequal, narrow, acuminate; achene ovoid, nearly 

 straight. 



Shady forests in montane zone 5-7000 ft.; very common. Fl. Sept.; 

 green. 



Himalaya Mts., Nilgiri Mts., Java. 



2. P. stipulosa, Miq. in Zoll. Syst. Verz. 102 (1854). 



Wedd. Monogr. Urt. 230. P. angulata, BL, Thw. Enum. 259; Wedd. 

 in DC. 1. c. 131. C. P. 2184. 

 Fl. B. Ind. V. 555. 



Stem 1-3 ft, stout, erect; 1. glabrous or very sparsely 

 hairy, 3-4 in. long, oval or ovate-oblong, acuminate, obtusely 

 cuspidate or caudate, coarsely serrate or toothed, membra- 

 nous, base cuneate or rounded ; petiole as long as the blade 

 or shorter; stip. large, oblong, green; fl. dioecious; male 

 cymes |-i in.; fem. cymes binate, shorter than the petiole, 

 sessile or shortly peduncled, branches short ; fl. in confluent 

 clusters, sessile; male sep. broadly ovate ; fem. sep. subequal,. 

 orbicular ; achene minute, smooth. 



Woods and shady places in lower montane zone ; common. Fl. 

 October; green. 

 Also in Java. 



