780 



URT 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL; 



URT 



shaped, entire, narrower below, very small. Stamina: fila- 

 menta four, awl-shaped, length of the calix, spreading, each 

 within each calix-leaf; antheree two-celled. Female Flowers, 

 either on the same or a distinct plant. Calix: perianth two- 

 valved, concave, erect, permanent. Corolla : none. Pistil : 

 germen ovate; style none; stigma villose. Pericarp: none; 

 calix converging. Seed : one, ovate, blunt, compressed, 

 shining. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Male. Calix: four- 

 leaved. Corolla: none. Nectary: rudiment of a germen, 

 central, cup-shaped. Female. Calix: two-leaved. Corolla: 



none. Seed: one, superior, shining. The species are, 



* Opposite-leaved. 



1. Urtica ' Pilulifera ; Roman Nettle. Leaves opposite, 

 ovate, serrate; female flowers in round balls or heads. Stem 

 from eighteen inches to two feet high ; annual. The whole 

 plant is thick set with stinging hairs more pungent than the 

 too common Nettles. Native of the south of Europe ; about 



.Tunis, in Barbary ; and upon the east coast of England. 

 It has been observed near the quay at Yarmouth ; at Aid- 

 borough and Bungay in Suffolk ; and at Ilomney in Kent. 

 It is common among rubbish and stones, flowering in July. 

 Sow the seeds in March upon a bed of rich light earth. 

 When the plants are come up, transplant them into beds, 

 or the borders of the pleasure-garden. The seeds ripen in 

 autumn ; and if the plant be permitted to scatter them, they 

 will grow without further care. 



2. Urtica Balearica. Leaves opposite, cordate, serrate ; 

 female flowers in round heads. This is probably a variety of 

 the preceding species, though it is said to differ in having nar- 

 row leaves and globular catkins. Found in Majorca, &c. 



3. Urtica Dodartii ; Pellitory-leaved Nettle. Leaves oppo- 

 site, ovate, almost quite entire; female flowers in round heads. 

 Root annual; stems much more slender than those of the for- 

 mer, and seldom branching. It flowers iu July and August. 

 Native of the south of Europe. 



4. Urtica Pumila; Dwarf Nettle. Leaves opposite, ovate; 

 racemes two-parted, very short; root fibrous; stem the height 

 of a finger, simple. Native of Canada, in watery places. 



5. Urtica Grandifolia; Great-leaved Nettle. Leaves oppo- 

 site, ovate ; stipules cordate, undivided; racemes panicled, 

 length of the leaves. Root small, brown, fibrous; stem a foot 

 and half high; leaves from five inches to a foot in length, 

 three-ribbed, stalked, flowers at top in a bunch together, 

 brownish, very small, numerous, reticulated. It varies from 

 a foot in height to four feet; with leaves to a span in length; 

 with smaller racemes to very large diffused ones, often bigger 

 than the leaves, with white, green, and red flowers, and both 

 sexes on the same plant, appearing in the middle of summer. 

 Native of the West Indies, in shady moist places : on dry 

 ground it is a lower plant. 



6. Urtica Verticillata ; Whorled Nettle. Leaves opposite, 

 ovate, serrate ; flowers numerous, axillary, sessile. Stem a 

 foot high, erect, tender, hairy, especially towards the top, 

 branched at bottom. Native of Arabia Felix. 



7. Urtica Reticulata; Netted-leaved Nettle. Leaves oppo- 

 site, oblong, acute, netted underneath; stipules ovate, entire; 

 racemes panicled. Root perennial. Native of Jamaica. 



8. Urtica Urens ; Small Nettle. Leaves opposite, elliptic, 

 three or five nerved; racemes almost simple. This is distin- 

 guished from the Great Nettle by its humble size, being 

 scarcely one-third of the height of that; its annual, white, 

 fibrous root; and its elliptical leaves, much smaller and 

 rounder, three or five nerved, and scabrous. Native of Eu- 

 rope, Siberia, and Barbary. It is a common weed in culti- 

 vated ground, especially on a light soil, and is a great pest of 

 gardens, where it often seeds twice in a season. 



9. Urtica Laxa; Loose-stalked Nettle. Leaves opposite, 

 ovate, acuminate, serrate ; flowers dicecious ; males pedun- 

 cled, crowded ; females in racemes. The stems are from 

 three to five feet high, smooth ; pale, roundish, branched; 

 the branches loosely spreading and zigzag. Native of His- 

 paniola. 



10. Urtica Betulsefolia ; Birch-leaved Nettle. Leaves op- 

 posite, cordate, roundish, serrate; stipules entire; flowers in 

 racemes; stem prostrate, ascending. Native of Hispaniola. 



11. Urtica Diffusa; Diffused Nettle. Leaves opposite, 

 ovate, acutely serrate, hispid ; stipules rolled back ; racemes 

 panicled, longer than the leaf; stems procumbent. Native 

 of Jamaica, on stony mountains. 



12. Urtica Rufa; Rusty Nettle. Entirely hirsute : leaves 

 opposite, oblong, serrate; stipules roundish, permanent; ra- 

 cemes terminating; stem suffrntescent, branched, shaggy 

 with rusty hairs. Native of Jamaica. 



13. Urtica Dioica; Great Nettle. Leaves opposite, cor- 

 date, sharply serrated ; racemes very much branching, in 

 pairs, mostly dioecious ; stipules ovate, distinct, spreading. 

 Root perennial, creeping, tough, yellowish, sending down 

 from the joints some pretty large fibres ; stems many, from 

 two to four feet high, upright, very little branched, bluntly 

 quadrangular, each side furrowed. The whole plant is 

 pubescent, and covered with stinging bristles; the flowers 

 dispersed in small clusters, commonly dioecious, but often 

 monoecious. The seed is small, of an attenuated oval shape, 

 compressed like a lens, of a pale whitish colour : the two 

 calix-leaves serve it instead of a pericarp. It is remarkable 

 that in this numerous genus all the species do not sting, as 

 the three species which are natives of this country never fail 

 to do. The small projecting prickles or bristles with which 

 they'are covered are tubular, and stand on a bag filled 

 with a poisonous juice: they are perforated at the point, 

 and when gently pressed in a vertical direction, the poison 

 ascends the tube, and enables the point to lodge it in the 

 skin, creating considerable irritation and inflammation. Net- 

 tles have been employed as a rubifacient, a practice which 

 was termed Urtication, and found of advantage in restoring 

 excitement in paralytic limbs, or in torpid and lethargic affec- 

 tion. The juice of the plant itself, and of the Dock, are im- 

 mediate remedies for the sting. The plant was formerly used 

 as an astringent, but is now disregarded. A leaf put upon 

 the tongue, and pressed against the roof of the mouth, will 

 commonly stop bleedings at the nose. Paralytic limbs have 

 been restored to their usual functions by stinging them with 

 Nettles; and the young shoots or tops are gathered early in 

 the spring, to boil in broth or gruel. The young leaves, 

 eaten in the spring, are not a bad substitute for spinach; 

 they remove obstructions ; and the roots operate by urine. 

 The juice of the leaves, taken alone, or boiled with sugar 

 into a syrup, is an excellent medicine for spitting of blood, 

 and other haemorrhages. A conserve made of the flowers 

 and seed is good for the stone in the kidneys; and a decoction 

 of the root is good in the jaundice, and makes a useful gargle 

 for sore throats. The Nettle is refused by quadrupeds in 

 general, the ass excepted ; and even cows will eat it after 

 it has been cut and become a little withered. It is culti- 

 vated for the food of milch cows in Sweden : and the leaves 

 are chopped small, to mix with the food of young turkeys and 

 other poultry. This plant is the only food of the caterpillars 

 of three of" our most beautiful butterflies; the Atalanta, 

 Paphia, and Urticce ; the principal food of the Io; and the 

 occasional food of the Comma Album; the caterpillars also 

 of the Urticata and Verticalis moths feed on it: a great 

 number of other indiscriminate feeders devour its foliage; 





