354 THE NETTLE FAMILY. 



nopodeae, which in many points they closely resemble, the embryo in 

 the Chenopodese being curved. 



The chief characteristic of these plants is the causticity of the 

 limpid juice of many species, well known in the painful slings of the 

 common nettle. In certain Indian kinds the poison is so strong as to 

 aflFect the whole arm, and extend even to the body. Some, however, 

 are destitute of stings, and then they are merely insignificant. The 

 stalks often contain abundance of strong fibre resembling hemp, and 

 the boiled herbage is in some cases good to eat. No plants are more 

 widely dispersed, the family being found everywhere, from the poles 

 to the equator, and in all varieties of habitats. Many species follow 

 the footsteps of man, flourishing by the waysides and on the heaps of 

 rubbish near his dwellings. 



Four species are indigenous to our island, some authors adding a 

 fifth. Three of them occur near Manchester. 



A. — Plant covered with virulent stings. 



1. Stems two or three feet high, more or less downy; principal 



leaves opposite, stalked, heart-shaped, somewhat ovate, coarsely 

 serrate, pointed, and rough. Flowers in axillary, hranched, and [ Common 

 Spreading racemes, the latter ahout the length of the leaves, [ Nettle. 

 green, and very numerous, the males not in the same cluster 

 as the females / 



2. Stems seldom more than twelve inches high, branched, and gla-\ 



brous, with the exception of the stinging hairs. Leaves ovate I 



or elliptical, stalked, deeply and regularly serrate. Flowers in /-MpT,™^- 



small, loose, axillary, almost sessile clusters, the males mostly j 



at the apex, and the females at the base j 



B. — Plant destitute of stings. 



3. Stems numerous, diffuse, six to twelve inches long, more or less\ 



downy. Leaves alternate, ovate or oblong, stalked, quite I p£t,,tory 

 entire. Flowers in sessile clusters, reddish and minute ; the [ 

 stamens elastic. (Fig 184) ' 



HABITATS AND LOCALITIES. 

 1. Common Nettle — [Urdca dioica.) 

 Everywhere by waysides and in waste places, as difficult to expel 

 as it is unpleasant to lay hands upon. Fl. summer. 



Curtis, ii. ^O ; E. B. xxv. 1750 ; Baxter, iv. 298. 



2. Dwarf Nettle — [Urtica urens.) 

 Waysides, common, but not like the larger one, universal. Plentiful 



