U'rera] cxvi. URTiCACEiE. 987 



divided into spreailiiig sarmcntoso liranclies; leaves alternate, 

 oval-oblong or broadly oval, cuspidatL'-acuminatti at the ajK-x, 

 obtuse truncate or subconlato at tho trinerved base, thick or 

 tie-shy-brittle, rigid, not coriaceous, somewhat rough, deep or 

 blackish green and somewhat glossy above, pallid or grey and 

 very delicately lepidote-dotted beneath, entire and slightly un- 

 dulate on the margin, 2 to G in. long by 'j to 3 in. broad, more or 

 less hispid along the basal nerves or nearly glabi'ous ; lateral 

 veins few, usually 1 or 2 on each .side in addition to the basal 

 nerves, slender, in relief on the lower face of the leaf ; cystoliths 

 on the lower face linear, short, numerous, not conspicuous ; 

 petioles ranging up to 2 in. long, beset with strong hairs or nearly 

 unarmed, usually puberulous-pulveruleut ; stipules triangular- 

 lanceolate, subglabrous, slightly puberulous chieHy along the 

 middle of the back, ^ to 1 in. long, caducous ; flowers dioecious, 

 .small, greenish-yellowish or greenish-purplish ; corymbs green, 

 pedunculate in the axils of the leaves, highly compound, mostly 

 forming nest-like bunches more or less quadrangular flat on the 

 top an inch broad and -^- in. high ; common peduncle thick, short, 

 at the top very intricately branched ; ultimate pedicels very short. 

 Male perianth deeply 4-cIeft, the segments trianglar-ovate, -^^ in. 

 long, glabrous inside, puberulous outside, valvate in aestivation, 

 spreading in flower ; stamens 4, exserted, spreading, as long as 

 the perianth-lobes opposite to them and inserted about their base ; 

 ovary rudimentary, small. Female flowers very small ; ovary 

 conical-oblong, green, ^V in. long, unilocular, crowned at the top 

 with the very short style and the ferruginous penicillate stigma, 

 arranged more or less vertieillately round the floral axis, closely 

 invested in the perianth. The floral axis, that is, the common 

 stalk of the ultimate ramification of the corymbs, terminates in 

 small thick fusiform pellucid purple glands which have a seta at 

 the tip. 



GoLUNGO Alto. — In dense forest close to the river Delamboa, near 

 Sange, seen only there, on the old trunks of Spondiea;. etc. ; female fl. 

 middle of April 1856. Local name "Jihefo bastardo." No. 6279. 

 In primitive forests at the banks of the Quisncula streams, very rare ; 

 female fl., May 185tj. Negro name "Jihefo" (bravo). No. 6268. 



The tree Jihefo is Piper guineense Thonn., Welw. herb. nos. 508 to 

 510 and Coll. Carp. 'J40. 



PuNGO Andongo. — In the Cabondo wooded thickets, in the praesi- 

 dium ; male fl. Jan. 1857. No. 6294. 



The last No. is a shorter plant than the others, with the branches 

 nearly unarmed, but it is probably a younger state of the same species. 



Compare with this species U. Thonncrl De Wild, and Th. Dur. Pi. 

 Thonner. Congol. p. 11, t. 18 (1900). 



2. URTICASTRUM Heist.; Fabric. Enum. llort. llelmst. 

 p. 204 (1759). 



Laportea CJaudich. (1S26); Benth. k Hook. f. Gen. PI. iii. p. 383. 



1 . U. Carruthersianum Hiern, sp. n. 



A shrub, 4 to G ft. high ; stems dusky red, siaringly branched. 



