Boehmeria.'] UvHcaceCB. I 1 3 



naked branches ; male in fascicles about \ in. diam., pedicel 

 Jg in. ; fern. in. minute fascicled peduncled heads ^-\ in. 

 diam., ped. iV~T2 i^-5 achene minute, ovoid, slightly com- 

 pressed, base seated on the very short cupular perianth. 



Damp places on rocks and tree-lrunks, epiphytic in forests of the 

 montane zone 3-6000 ft.; rather common. Fl. (?) ; green. 



Mountains of India, Java, Borneo, Trop. Africa. 



The figure of the plant above quoted, being made from a dried 

 specimen, does not give the succulent habit. 



23. BOSKMBRXA, Jacq. 



Pubescent shrubs or small trees; 1. opp. or alt., petioled, 

 base 3-veined, crenate or serrate; stip. deciduous; fl. monoe- 

 cious or dioecious, in unisexual axillary spiked racemed or 

 panicled clusters ; male fl. : — sep. 3-5, free or connate, valvate; 

 stam. 3, fil. inflexed in bud; pistillode subglobose; fem. fl. : — 

 perianth tubular, compressed, 3-4-toothed, persistent; ov. 

 included in the perianth, sessile or stipitate, stigma filiform, 

 persistent, ovule erect; achene crustaceous, enclosed in the 

 marcescent perianth, endosperm copious or scanty, cotyledons 

 broad. — Sp. about 45 ; 10 in Fl. B. Ind. 



Fl. in axillary clusters i. B. malabarica. 



Fl. in axillary spikes 2. B. platyphylla. 



B. malabarica, Wedd. Mon. Urt. 355 (1857). Ittaha-diya- 

 dul, S. 



Urtica aquatica, Moon, Cat. 62. Thw. Enum. 260. Wedd. in DC. 

 Prod. xvi. II. 203. C. P. 2198. 



Fl. B. Ind. v. 575. Bedd. Fl. Sylv. t. anal. 27, f. 2 {B. ratniflora). 



An erect shrub of 2-4 ft., or small tree, up to 20 ft. high ; 

 stems or branches terete, smooth, pubescent or puberulous; 

 1. subequal or alternately large and small, the large 4-8 in., 

 ovate oblong or oval, acuminate or caudate, with the tip 

 serrate, crenulate or serrulate except towards the rounded or 

 cordate base, membranous, glabrous and sometimes tessellately 

 rugose above, pubescent or tomentose beneath, lateral veins 

 2-3 pairs, basal long, strong ; petiole ^-3 inch. ; fl. monoecious, 

 minute, in small axillary sessile clusters; achene ovoid, closely 

 invested by the broadly oval truncate puberulous perianth. 



Moist region to 4000 ft.; rather rare (?). Kandy; East Matale. Fl. 

 May. 



S. India, E. Bengal, Burma, Java. 



The bark yields an excellent fibre, used for making fishing lines. 

 PART IV. I 



