(]4 URTICACE.E. Urtkn. 



♦ Beset with stinging liairs : leaves opposite, dentate, stipulate : akene eonipressed. 



1. Urtica. Sepals 4, distinct, the inner ones largest in the fertile llowers and enelosing the 



akene. 



2. Hesperocnide. Staniinate calyx -1 -parted ; pistillate tubular, uneipially 2 - -i-toothed and 



enclosing the akene. 



» ♦ Unarmed : leaves alternate, entire, without stipules : akene ovoid. 



3. Parietaria. Inllorescenee iavolucrate-braeted. Staniinate caly.v 4-parted ; pistillate tubular- 



canipanuhile, ■1-lobed, enclosing the akene. 



1. URTICA, Tourn. Nettle. 

 Flowers mona'cious or dioicious, green, clustered in axiUary geminate racemes, 

 spikes or loose heads, without bracts : staniinate llowers on jointed pedicels, with 

 •4 sepals, 4 stamens, ami a iiidimentary cui)-shapcd ovary ; the jjistillato with 4 

 sepals, the 2 outer small and spreading, the inner erect, becoming membranous and 

 enclosing the flattened ovate akene : stigma sessile, capitate, tufted : albumen scanty, 

 — Herbs, armed with stinging hairs, with obtusely 4-angled sulcate stems ; leaves 

 opposite, serrate, with distinct lateral stipules ; fruit persistent. 



A wide-spread genus in temperate and subtenij)eiate regions, of 30 or 40 species, about a third 

 American. 



* Perennials, wltli rnnnuKj rootstucks : iiifloirsrencc nnidcnial ; ^venuV/t's usualli/ 

 exceeduKj tlie petioles: stipules litrfje, entire. 



1. U, holosericea, Nutt. Tall and stout, 5 to 8 feet high, more or less bristly, 

 finely and den.seiy tunientose especially on the lower side of the leaves : stipules 

 membranous, \ incli long, oblong, obtuse or acute ; leaves thick, oblong- to ovate- 

 lanceolate, acuminate, 2 to 4 inches long, rounded or sul)Cordate at base, coarsely 

 serrate, on short stout petioles : staniinate llowers in loose slender diffuse panicles 

 nearly equalling the leaves ; pistillate panicles den.ser and shorter : inner sepals 

 ovate, densely liispid, i line long, about ecpialling the broadly ovate akene. — PI. 

 Gambel. 183; Watson, Proc. Am. Acad. x. o4*J. U. traclu/rarpa, Weddell, 

 Monogr. 95, ^ IJC. Prodr. xvi\ 58. U. dloira, var. occidentatis, M'atson, Bot. 

 King Exp. 321. 



Througliout the State, and eastward to Utah ; especially common in S. California. Nuttall 

 describes the leaves as sometimes (probably the lowest ones) a span long and long-petioled. 



2. U. Breweri, Watson. Tall and stout, grayish Avith a short somewhat hispid 

 pubescence or nearly glabrous, and Avith scattered bristles : stipules niembranous, 

 oblong-lanceolate : iJaves thin, finely ])ubescent, soon glabrate or roughish above, 

 ovate to oblong lanceolate, 2 to G inches long, acute or acuminate, rounded or 

 slightly cordate at base, coar.sely serrate, On slender petioles 1 to 3 inches long or 

 more : flowers in short open paiiicles scarcely exceeding the petioles : sepals obovato 

 or rounded, obtuse, minutely his[)id, nearly a line long and nearly twice longer than 

 the broadly ovate akene. — Proc. Am. Acad. x. 348 ; Kt.throck, Dot. Wheeler, t. 25. 



Frequent about Los Angeles (Z?/rurc) and ranging eastward to S. Colorado {Wolf) and W. 

 Texas, liiiirlotr. 



3. IT. Lyallii, Watson, I. c. Tall, rather .slender, more or less pubescent, be- 

 coming nearly glabrous, with scattered bristles : stipules large, membranous, broadly 

 oblong, obtuse ; leaves ovate, somewhat cordate at base, acute, 3 to G inches long or 

 more, coarsely serrate, on slender petioles 2 to 4 inches long : flowers in loose slen- 

 der spreading panicles, equalling or shorter than the i)etioles : sepals broadly ovate 

 or rounded, obtuse, shorter than the broadly ovate akene, which is § line long. 



A very large-leaved species, collected in Marin County (Kellogg) and northward in the Cascade 

 Mountains and at Vancouver Island, Lyall. 



