ex. UETICACE^. 34;5 



filiform, villous ; ovule erect or ascending. Acliene either 

 woolly or shining. — Wedd. Urtic. p. 538. t. 19 A. 



Perennial herbs or uuderslirubs, chiefly Mrican. Stems smooth. Leaves 

 alternate or opposite, serrate, destitute of hooked hairs. Involucre toothed, 

 pubescent or tomentose. — D. amhigiia, Wedd. {Parietaria urticeefolia^ 

 E. M.), is tlie only Cape species. 



G. DIDYMODOXA, E. Mey. 



Flowers monoecious, the sexes mixed together, not involu- 

 crate. — Male : Calyx monophyllous, bract-like, shortly tubular 

 at base ; the limb hood-like, acuminate ; the margins ciliate, 

 closely cohering in the lanceolate bud. Stamen 1. — Female : 

 Calyx Avanting or adhering to ovary. Ovary straight, ovate, 

 tipped with a capitate or shortly fililbrm, villous, often incurved 

 stigma ; ovule erect. Achene subobliquely ovate, compressed, 

 one margin keeled or crested. — Wedd. Urtic. p. 547. t. 15 B. 



Weak, procumbent, branching annuals, growing in shady places ; for- 

 merly referred to Parietaria. Leaves alternate, crenate or quite entire, 3- 

 nerved ; stipules free, petiolar, scarious, ciliate. Glomerules 5-20-flo\vered. 

 Flowers small, green.— 3 species, 2 of them Eastern. 



Suborder 2. Celtidese. (Gen. 7-9.) 



7. CELTIS, Tourn. 



Flowers polygamous, dimorphous. — Male : Calyx 4-5- 

 parted; the segments concave, strongly imbricate in bud. 

 Stamens 4-5, inserted under a rudimentary, pilose cushion ; 

 anthers included, gibbous at base, introrse. — Hermaphrodite : 

 Calyx deciduous. Stamens as in the male. Ovary on a pilose 

 disk ; stigmas 2, deciduous. Berry nude, equal-sided. — Endl. 

 Gen. n. 1851 ; Flanch. in Ami. Sc. Nat. Ser. 3. x. p. 2G3. 



Trees and shrubs with alternate, 3-nerved leaves, often serrulate, and 

 axillary small flowers. — 4 Cape species, in the Eastern districts and at 

 Natal. 



8. SPONIA, Comm. 



Flowers polygamous, 3-morphous. — Male : Calyx 5-parted ; 

 the lobes subvalvate-induplicate in bud ; the margins minutely 

 overlapping. Anthers at length exserted, the cells not con- 

 spicuously gibbous at base, introrse. — Hermaphrodite : Calyx 

 of male, the lobes less inflexed at edges. — Female : Cal3^x- 

 lobes flattish, imbricate at base. Berry minute, crowned by 

 2 feathery styles, and seated in the persistent calyx. — JEndt. 

 Gen. n. 1852. Flanch. I. c. p. 264. 



Tropical and subtropical trees. Leaves 3-nerved, mostly greyish and pu- 

 bescent, serrate. Flowers small, in axillary cymes ; Ihe males and herma- 

 phrodite often together, the female on separate twigs. — 2 species at Natal. 



