246 cxxiiiD. URTiCACEiE (Rendle). [Fleurya. 



deeply divided into 4 or 5 ovate concave lobes which are valvate or 

 slightly imbricate in bud. Stamens 4 or 5 ; filaments slightly exceed- 

 ing the perianth-segments. Ovary rudimentary. Female flowers : 

 Perianth with 4 more or less unequal imbricate segments. Ovary at 

 length oblique ; stigma ovate to linear, sometimes with a pair of 

 basal appendages, ultimately hooked ; ovule erect from the base. 

 Achene oblique, compressed, protruding from the persistent perianth ; 

 pericarp membranous. Seed-coat membranous ; albumen very 

 scanty ; cotyledons broad.— Annual herbs, often with stinging hairs. 

 Leaves alternate, petioled, toothed, 3-nerved at the base, penni- 

 nerved above. Stipules connate into one 2-fid intrapetiolar struc- 

 ture. Inflorescences solitary, axillary ; clusters of flowers unisexual 

 or androgynous. 



Species about 12, widely distributed throughout the tropics ; also in South 

 Africa. 



Leaves ovate, rarely orbicular- ovate. 



Inflorescence typically bisexual, exceeding the leaves. 



Inflorescence a spreading panicle ... ... ... }. F. ccstunns. 



Inflorescence narrow, interrupted spike -like ... 4. F. irtterriipfa. 

 Inflorescence unisexual, relatively few-flowered, 

 generally shorter than the leaf. 

 Male inflorescence dichotomously branched ; 



achene ^ lin. long 6. F. caj)ensis. 



Male flowers in dense roundish clusters on long 



peduncles; achene H-2 lin. long ... ... 7. F . fodocur^m. 



Leaves elliptic to elliptic-ovate; plants dioecious; 

 inflorescence many-flowered, shorter than the 



leaves 2. F. urticoides. 



Leaves large, ovate-lanceolate, 6-7 in. long 3. F. lanceolata. 



Iveaves deltoid, grossly toothed... ... ... ... 6. F.mooreana. 



1. P. aestuans, Gaid. in Freyc. Voy. Bot. 497. A bright green 

 herb ; stem erect or ascending, from a few in. to 4 or 6 ft. high, 

 generally but little branched, becoming leafless in the lower portion, 

 more or less furnished with rather stiff hairs in addition to which 

 delicate longer frequently gland-tipped hairs may be present espe- 

 cially on the younger parts, sometimes almost or quite glabrous. 

 Leaves long-petioled, membranous, ovate, sometimes very broadly 

 ovate, acute, base very blunt, truncate or somewhat cordate, margin 

 dentate, teeth regular, broad and blunt, nerves as in the genus, l|-6 

 in. long, 1-6 in. wide, sometimes even smaller or larger, with stiffish 

 appressed hairs on both faces especially on the veins beneath ; 

 petiole |-10 in. long, generally shorter, sometimes longer than the 

 leaf-blade ; stipules persistent, thinly membranous, 2-5 lin. long, 

 segments narrowly subulate. Inflorescence generally "a long-stalked 

 spreading panicle exceeding the subtending leaf ; the small clusters 

 bisexual and female on the same panicle, rarely the male flowers on 

 distinct peduncles. Male flowers shortly stalked, bud globular-com- 

 pressed ; perianth deeply divided into 4 (or 5) elliptic-ovate blunt 



