URTICACE.E. 497 



Herbs, shrubs, or trees, with alternate, stipulate leaves, which are 

 usually hispid or scabrous. This order has been divided into the fol- 

 lowing suborders : 



1. Urticeae, True Nettles (figs. 714-720): rough-leaved plants, often with sting- 



ing hairs, filaments elastic, and curved in aestivation (fig. 715); fruit an in- 

 dehiscent nut ; seed erect, albuminous ; embryo straight ; juice watery. 

 They are widely scattered over the globe, and many of them follow the 

 footsteps of man in his migrations. 



2. Cannabinese, Hemp tribe: scabrous plants with erect filaments; fruit inde- 



hiscent ; seed suspended, exalbuminous ; embryo hooked or spiral ; juice 

 watery. They occur chiefly in temperate regions. 



3. Ulmacese, Elm tribe ; rough-leaved trees or shrubs ; filaments erect in aesti- 



vation ; fruit 1-2-celled, samaroid or drupaceous; seed pendulous, usually 

 exalbuminous ; embryo straight or curved ; juice watery. Natives of the 

 northern and mountainous parts of Europe, Asia, and America. 



4. Morese, Mulberry tribe: usually rough-leaved trees or shrubs; filaments 



erect in aestivation; fruit a sorosis or syconus (figs. 246, 475); seed solitary, 

 pendulous, albuminous ; embryo hooked ; juice milky. Natives of tem- 

 perate and tropical regions. 



5. Artocarpeaj, Bread-fruit tribe : trees or shrubs, with leaves often rough ; 



filaments generally erect in aestivation ; fruit often a serosis ; seed erect or 

 pendulous, albuminous; embryo straight; juice milky. Natives of tropical 

 regions. 



There are between 60 and 70 known genera, and about 600 species. 

 Examples Urtica; Cannabis, Humulus; Ulmus, Celtis; Morus, Ficus, 

 Dorstenia ; Artocarpus, Antiaris. 



1020. The properties of the order are various. Many yield valu- 

 able fibres, others supply important edible fruits, others furnish 

 caoutchouc, and others form important forest trees. Various species 

 of Urtica, Nettle, such as U. dioica, urens, pilulifera, stimulans, crenulata, 

 and urentissima, have stinging hairs (fig. 86). The young shoots of 

 the common nettle are sometimes used like spinach or greens. Urtica 

 cannabina and tenacissima furnish fibres fit for cordage. Saehmeria 

 nivea supplies fibre for the Chinese grass-cloth, and Bcehmeria Puya 

 gives the Pooah or Puya fibre of Nepal and Sikkim. In Nettles 

 and Pellitories, the elastic filaments turn the anthers back with elas- 

 ticity, and cause the scattering of the pollen (^[ 497). Specimens of 

 Tree-nettle, Urtica gigantea, were measured by Backhouse in Aus- 

 tralia, and found to be 18, 20, and 21 feet in circumference. Their 

 sting is very severe, causing violent inflammation. Cannabis saliva is 

 the source of the valuable fibre called Hemp. A variety called Can- 

 nabis indica is used in India for producing intoxication. It is also 

 employed medicinally in the form of extract, as an antispasmodic and 

 anodyne, in cases of tetanus and neuralgia. The properties of the 

 hemp plant appear to be much modified by climate. The Indian 

 variety has a marked resinous varnish, called Churrus, on its leaves. 

 What is called Bhang in India, consists of the dried larger leaves and 

 fruit, while Gunjah is the whole plant dried after flowering, and the 



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