Pelliuiua.] URTICE^. 33I 



uioie,^ hard at the base. Leaves alternate, oblique, narrow-elliptical or ol)lonn- 

 acuminate, usually 1^ to 3 in. lon^^-, seiTate above the middle, veiy unequal at 

 the base, very scabrous above, pubescent underneath. Male cjTnes loose, on 

 slender pedicels of 2 to 4 lines. Perianth-segments 1 line long, ovate, with 

 a green point below the top, usually 4 only. Pemale cymes v'eiy compact 

 and sessile. Bracts small. Periantli-segments usually 4, narrow, very un- 

 equal, the longest about | line long. Sterile stamens veiy minute' or none. 

 Nut tuberculate. 



Hongkong, Harland, Hance,Wrirj]it; in ravines of jNIounts Gough and Victoria, TFiZ/yvY/. 

 Not known out of the island. It is allied to P. heterophi/Ua, Wedd., from Sikkim ; but 

 that is glabrous, or nearly so, besides diflereiices in the llowers. 



7. BCEHMERIA, Jacq. 



Flowers moncDecious or diacious, in small dense clusters; the clusters in uni- 

 sexual spikes or panicles. Male perianth usually of 4 segments, valvate in 

 the bud, with 4 stamens. Female perianth enclosing the ovaiy, 2- or 

 4-tootlied. Ovary 1-celled, with 1 erect ovule. Stigma subulate, continuous 

 with the ovary and persistent. Fruit a seed-like nut, enclosed in the thin 

 perianth. Seed albuminous. — Under-shrubs, shrubs, or small trees. Leaves 

 alternate or opposite, usually toothed. 



A large genus dispersed over the New and the Old World, chiefly within the tropics, with 

 a very few extra-tropical Asiatic or N. American species. 



L B. nivea, Hook, and Am.; Wedd. Man. Urt. 380; Kew Journ. Bot. 

 iii. t. 8. An erect branching hirsute perennial or undershrub, 4 ft. lii<'-h or 

 more. Leaves alternate, very broadly ovate, acuminate, toothed, 4 or 5 in.' 

 long, cordate or cuneate at the base, green and roughly pubescent above, veiy 

 white underneath. Female clusters small, globular, very numerous, in axillary' 

 panicles. Male panicles smaller, usually below the females. Fruiting peri- 

 anth verv small, oblong, compressed. — tfrtica tenaclmma, Eoxb. ; Wight, Ic. 

 t 688. " 



Conmion in ravines, Champion. Abundant, either wild or in cultivation, in various parts 

 of China, easteru India, and the Archipelago, furnishing the Chinese Grass-cloth. 



8. POUZOLSIA, Gaud. 



Flowers monoecious, in axillary or spicate clusters. Male perianth of 3 to 

 5 segments, convex on the back, valvate in the bud. Stamens as many. Fe- 

 male perianth enclosing the ovary, 2- or 4-toothed. Ovary 1-celled, with 1 

 ei-ect ovide. Stigma subulate, articulate on the ovary, and deciduous. Nut 

 seed-like, enclosed in the persistent and occasionally 2-winged perianth. 

 Seed albuminous. — Herbs or shrubs. Leaves alternate or o])positc, usually 

 entire, 3 -nerved, the lateral nerves branching, and never reacliing the sununit 

 of the leaf. 



A tropical genus common to the New and the Old World. 



1. P. indica, Gaud. ; Wedd. Mon. Urt. 398. A diffusely branclu-d ])u- 

 bescent lierb or imdershrub, procumbent, ascending or rarely erect. T^ower 

 leaves usually opposite, upper ones alternate, all entire, varying mucli in si/e 

 and shape, in the Hongkong specimens ovate or almost cordate, about 1 in. 



