132 URTICACEM. [ POUZOLZIA. 



2. P. tndica, Gaud, in Freyc. Voy. 503 ; F. B. I. V., 581 ; Collett 

 Fl Siml. 467 ; Prain Beng. PL 965 ; Cooke Fl. Bomb, ii, 638. Urtica 

 suffruticosa, Roxb. Fl. Ind. Hi, 584. 



A perennial herb, very variable as to size and habit, glabrous, hoary 

 or pubescent. Stem erect or prostrate, 6-20 in., stout or slender. 

 Leaves opposite or alternate, '-1 J in. long, ovate to lanceolate, obtuse, 

 acute or acuminate, entire, hairy ; base acute or rounded ; lateral 

 nerves 1 pair above the 3 basal ones; petioles |- in.; stipules 

 ovate, acuminate, ciliate. Flowers strigose with simple or hooked 

 hairs. MALE FLOWERS : Sepals 4, dorsally rounded, acute. Stamens 

 4. Pistillode small, clavate. FEM. FLOWERS : Perianth .tubular, 

 persistent, ribbed, 2-fid. at the apex, closely investing the achenes. 

 Achenes -^ in. long, broadly ovoid, shining. 



Abundant within the area and often met with as a garden weed. Dis- 

 TRIB. : Throughout trop and sub-trop. India and in Ceylon, ascend- 

 ing to 7,000 ft. on the Himalaya ; eastwards to Burma and south 

 to Malay Peninsula and Islands, also in China. 



VAR. alienata, Wedd. in F. B.I. V. Ic. P. nana, Don Prod. 60. Urtica 

 alienata, Linn. ; Roxb. Fl. Ind. Hi, 582. It differs from the type 

 in having the leaves mostly opposite, long-petioled and ovate, and 

 the leaf-base is usually rounded. It is said to be common in India, 

 but I have seen no specimens from the Upper Gangetic Plain. 



3. P. pentandra, Benn. PL Jav. Rar. 64, t. 14 ; F. B. I. V, 583 ; 

 Watt E. D. ; Collett Fl. Siml. 468 : Prain Beng. PL 965 ; Cooke 

 Fl. Bomb, ii, 638. Urtica pentandra, Roxb. FL Ind. Hi, 583. 



A tall erect glabrous perennial herb, 2-3 ft. high ; stem terete below, 

 usually angular above, diffusely branched. Leaves sessile or shortly 

 stalked ; the lower opposite, 1-4 in. long, oblong-lanceolate, acute 

 or acuminate, strongly 3-nerved, ciliolate ; the upper much smaller 

 than the lower ones and mostly alternate, linear-oblong, acuminate 

 or cuspidate, exceeding the flower-clusters, the base often cordate. 

 Flowers in clusters in the axils of the floral leaves (bracts) of an erect 

 or nodding terminal spike up to 18 in. long. MALE FLOWERS stalked, 

 truncate in bud, ciliate. Perianth 5-partite. Stamens 5. FEM. 

 FLOWERS : Perianth (in fruit) with 2 or 3 broad lateral wings. 



Dehra Dun (Gamble and Duthie), Pilibhit (Duthie), Gorakhpur 

 (Burkill). DISTRIB. Trop. Himalaya from Kangra eastwards to 

 Assam Khasia Hills and Bengal and south to Orissa and Kanara, 

 extending to Afghanistan, Java and China. A very variable species 

 of which four varieties are described in Fl. Br. Ind. 



