Urtica.] cxxiiiu. urticace.'E (Rciidle). 243 



lon^ ; stipules free, triangular, ciliolate. InHoresceiices a.sceiulin;^ 

 or spreading, usually shorter than the petiole, bearing male and 

 female flowers, the female flowers more numerous than the male, 

 pedicels very short, about J lin. long. Male flowers with spreading 

 perianth-segments, about IJ lin. across ; filaments about equal iu 

 length to or slightly exceeding the segments. Female flowers ; 

 outer segments minute, about half the length of the broad ovate 

 inner segments which are about J lin. long and bear a few stiff hairs 

 on the apex and margin and a larger median dorsal stinging hair. 

 Achene compressed-ovoid, obtuse, pale brown, about 1 lin. long, 

 enveloped in the membranous persistent inner perianth-segments. — • 

 Hochst. ex A. Rich. Tent. Fl. Abyss, ii. 260 ; Wedd. in DC. Prodr. 

 xvi. i. 40 ; Engl. Hochgebirgsfl. Trop. Afr. 192 ; Almagia in Ann. 

 1st it. Bot. Roma, viii. 117. 



Nile Land. Eritrea : Saganeiti, 7300 ft., Schu-tiiifidlh <L' Hivu, 1202 ! Assa- 

 orta, Scotti ; Amasen, Ghinda-Barcsa at 3250 ft., Terrucciano <£- Papjn, 81, 82. 

 Abyssinia: by dwellings; Jenausa, iS'c/iimj9fr, .S43 ! Asischa, HOOi) it., Schimpfr, 

 ()H3 ! Calla Highlands, Steudner, 1330. Sonialiland : without locality, Lurl 

 Phillips ! Habrawal, Gan Liban, 5800 and 5900 ft., Doiialdson Smith ! 



A widely distributed weed of cultivation. 



2. U. simensis, Hochst. ex Steiid. in Flora, 1850, 259. Dioecious, 

 perennial from a woody rhizome about -J- in. thick ; stem erect, woody 

 and rooting below, hollow, 5 lin. or less in thickness, finely pubescent, 

 ultimately becoming glabrous, hirsute, especially in the younger 

 parts, wdth spreading white stinging hairs, up to 4 ft. high. Leaves 

 petioled, membranous, ovate, apex generally broadly acuminate, 

 base cordate, margin grossly serrate, 5-nerved from the base, the 

 lower pair of nerves w^eak, 2-3^ in. long, 1^—2 J in. wide, surface 

 obscurely dotted with cystoliths, pubescent and with a few short 

 stinging hairs especially beneath and on the veins ; petiole more or 

 less beset with stinging hairs, 1-1 J in. long ; stipules free, herbaceous, 

 broadly ovate-triangular, J— J in. long. Inflorescences erect, longer 

 than the petioles. Female flowers in dense clusters arranged race- 

 mosely on the main axis ; outer pair of perianth-segments minute, 

 broadly ovate, glabrous, inner pair broadly elliptic, ^ lin. long, 

 glabrous, with 1-3 large dorsal stinging hairs. Achene compressed, 

 ovate, pale brown, a little over 1 lin. long, enveloped in the per-i 

 sistent dry membranous inner perianth-segments. — A. Rich. Tent. 

 Fl. Abyss, ii. 260 ; Wedd. in DC. Prodr. xvi. i. 54 ; Engl. Hochge- 

 birgsfl. Trop. Afr. 192. 



Nile Land. Abyssinia: Dibill and mountain villages, 8200-11,000 ft., Srliim- 

 per, 1283 ! Gaffat and Wogera, Schimpcr, 12vS4 ! near Abbcna, on tlie Ataba, 

 Steudner, 13-13 ! on the Ghaba River, Steudner, 1331; (Jondar, Strudurr, 133S; 

 Ktchel 'I'cat, Quartin- Dillon <L- Petit, 81 ! and without jirccise localil v, Srhimper, 

 743! British East Africa : Ruwenzori. 7000-8000 ft.. />f/uc. 723 ! Kivata, 

 8600 ft., Scutt Elliot, 7739 partly ! Uganda : Entebbi\ at 3000 ft., Broicn, 385 I 

 .Vberdare Mountains, James ! Karagwe, Speke d: drant, 470 ! 



Eaten as a pot herb. Native name in Abyssinia, Soma. 



