132 URTICACEA. f Povuzouzta. 
2. P.indica, Gaud. in Freyc. Voy. 503; F. B. I. V., 581; Collett 
Fl. Siml. 467 ; Prain Beng. Pl. 965 ; Cooke Fl. Bomb, ii, 638. Urtica 
suffruticosa, Roxb. Fl. Ind. iii, 584. 
A perennial herb, very variable as to size and habit, glabrous, hoary 
or pubescent. Stem erect or prostrate, 6-20 in., stout or slender. 
Leaves opposite or alternate, -14 in. long, ovate to lanceolate, obtuse, 
acute or acuminate, entire, hairy ; base acute or rounded ; lateral 
nerves 1 pair above the 3 basal ones; petioles }3-° in.; stipules 
ovate, acuminate, ciliate. Flowers strigose with simple or hooked 
hairs. MALE FrLowers: Sepals 4, dorsally rounded, acute. Stamens 
4. Pistillode small, clavate. Frm. ruowers: Perianth tubular, 
persistent, ribbed, 2-fid. at the apex, closely investing the achenes. 
Achenes =, in. long, broadly ovoid, shining. 
Abundant within the area and often met with as a garden weed. Dis- 
TRIB. : Throughout trop and sub-trop. India and in Ceylon, ascend- 
ing to 7,000 ft. on the Himalaya; eastwards to Burma and south 
to Malay Peninsula and Islands, also in China. 
Var. alienata, Wedd. in F. B. I. V. Ic. P. nana, Don Prod. 60. Urtica 
alienata, Linn.; Roxb. Fl. Ind. iii, 582. It differs from the type 
in having the leaves mostly opposite, long-petioled and ovate, and 
the leaf-base is usually rounded. It is said to be common in India, 
but I have seen no specimens from the Upper Gangetic Plain. 
3. P. pentandra, Benn. Pl. Jav. Rar. 64,t. 14; F. B. I. V, 583 ; 
Watt E. D.; Collett Fl. Siml. 468: Prain Beng. Pl. 965, Cooke 
Fl. Bomb. ii, 638. Urtica pentandra, Roxb. Fl. Ind. tii, 585. 
A tall erect glabrous perennial herb, 2-3 ft. high; stem terete below, 
usually angular above, diffusely branched. Leaves sessile or shortly 
stalked ; the lower opposite, 1-4 in. long, oblong-lanceolate, acute 
or acuminate, strongly 3-nerved, ciliolate; the upper much smaller 
than the lower ones and mostly alternate, linear-oblong, acuminate 
or cuspidate, exceeding the flower-clusters, the base often cordate. 
Flowers in clusters in the axils of the floral leaves (bracts) of an erect 
or nodding terminal spike up to 18 in. long. Mae FLOWERS stalked, 
truncate in bud, ciliate. Perianth 5-partite. Stamens 5. FEM. 
FLOWERS : Perzanth (in fruit) with 2 or 3 broad lateral wings. 
Dehra Dun (Gamble and Duthie), Pilibhit (Duthie), Gorakhpur 
(Burkill). Distrre. Trop. Himalaya from Kangra eastwards to 
Assam Khasia Hills and Bengal and south to Orissa and Kanara, 
extending to Afghanistan, Java and China. A very variable species 
of which four varieties are described in Fl. Br. Ind. 
