444 URTICACE^. (nettle family.) 



4 . M 6 R U S , Tourn. Mclberrt. 



Flowers monoecious or dioecious ; the two kinds in separate axillary and 

 catkin-like spikes. Calyx 4-parted ; lobes ovate. Stamens 4 : filaments elastical- 

 ly expanding. Ovary 2-eelled, one of the cells smaller and disappearing^ : styles 2, 

 tlircad-form, sti{i:matie down the inside. Aeheniiun ovate, compressed, covered 

 by the succulent berry-like calyx, the whole fertile spike thus becoming a thick- 

 ened oblong and juicy (edible) aggregate fruit. — Trees with milky juice and 

 rounded leaves : sterile sjiikes rather slender. (Mopta, the ancient naine.j 



1. M. rtlbra, L. (Red Mulberry.) Leaves heart-ovate, serrate, routjh 

 al)ore, downy underneath, pointed (on young shoots often lobed) ;. flowers frequently 

 dioecious ; /)«i< dark purple, long. — Rich woods, New England to Illinois and 

 southward. May. — Small tree, ripening its blackberry-like iruit in July. 



2. M. Alba, L. (White Mulberry.) Leaves obliquely heart-ovate, 

 acute, serrate, sometimes lobcd, smooth and shining ; fruit whitish. — Spontaneous 

 near houses : introduced for feeding silk-worms. (Adv. from Eu.) 



5. URTICA, Tourn. Nettle. 



Flowers monoecious, or rarely dia-cious ; clustered, the clusters mostly in ra- 

 cemes, spikes, or loose heads. Ster. Ft. Sepals 4. Stamens 4, inserted around 

 the cup-shaped rudiment of a pistil. Fert. Fl. Sepals 4, in pairs ; the 2 outer 

 smaller and spreading ; the 2 inner flat or concave, in fruit membranaceous and 

 enclosing the straight and erect ovate flattened aeheniura. Stigma sessile, cap- 

 itate and pencil-tufted. — Herbs armed with stinging hairs. Leaves opposite: 

 stipules in our species distinct. Flowers greenish ; in summer. (The classical 

 Latin name; from uro, to burn.) 



* Perennials: flower-clusters in hranching panicled spikes, often dicecious. 



1. U. gracilis, Ait, Sparingly hristlu, ^\cm\cr (2° -(,°\\v^h); leaves ovate- 

 lanceolaie, pointed, serrate, 3 - 5-nerved from the rounded or scarcely hcart-shnped 

 base, almost glabions, the elongated slender petioles sparingly bristly ; spikes slender 

 and loosely panicled. (U. prbcera, Willd.) — Fence-rows and moist ground: 

 common. Stings few. 



2. U. DioicA, L. Very bristly and stinging {2° -3° high); leaves ovate, heart- 

 shaped, pointed, very deeply serrate, downy underneath as well as the upper part of 

 the stem ; spdes much branched. — Waste places and roadsides, chiefly eastward. 

 (Nat. from Eu.) 



» * Annuals : flower-clusters chiefly axillary and shorter than the petiole, androgynous. 



3. TJ. URESS, L. Leaves elliptical or ovate, very coarsely and deeply serrate 

 with long spreading teeth, the terminal not longer than the lateral ones ; flower- 

 clusters 2 in each aril, small and loose. — Waste groimds, near dwellings, east- 

 ward: scarce. Plant 8'- 12' high, with sparse stings. (Nat. from Eu.) 



4. TJ. Chamsedryoldes, Pursh. Leaves ovate and mostly heart-shaped, the 

 upper ovate-lanceolate, coarsely serrate-toothed ; flower-clusters globular, 1 - 2 in 

 each axil, and spiked at the summit. (U. gracilis & U. verna, liaf. U. purjni- 

 rasccns, Nntt.) — Alluvial shaded soil, Kentucky and southward. — Slender, 

 6' -30' high, sparsely beset with stings. 



