URTICACE.E. (NETTLE FAMILY.) 465 



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 achene. Stigma sessile, 

 capitate and pencil-tufted. Herbs, armed with stinging hairs. Leaves oppo- 

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

 classical Latin name ; from uro, to burn.) 



* Perennials ; flower-dusters in branching panicled spikes, often diozcious. 



1. U. gracilis, Ait. Sparingly bristly, slender (2 - 6 high) ; leaves ovate- 

 lanceolate, pointed, serrate, 3 - 5-nerved from the rounded or scarcely heart- 

 shaped base, almost glabrous, the elongated slender petioles sparingly bristly ; 

 spikes slender and loosely panicled. Fence-rows and moist ground, common, 

 Stings few. 



U. DIOICA, L. Very bristly and stinging (2 - 3 high) ; leaves ovate, heart 

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

 of the stem ; spikes much branched. Waste places and roadsides, rather rare. 

 Canada and N. Eng. to S. C., west to Minn, and Mo. (Nat. from Eu.) 



* * Annuals ; flower-clusters chiefly axillary and shorter than the petiole, andro- 

 gynous. 



U. tiRENS, L. Leaves elliptical or ovate, very coarsely and deeply serrate 

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

 flower-clusters 2 in each axil, small and loose. Waste grounds, near dwellings, 

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



2. U. Chamsedryoides, 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. Alluvial shaded soil, from Ky. 

 to the Gulf States. Slender, 6 -30' high, sparsely beset with stings. 



9. LAPORTEA, Gaudichaud. WOOD-NETTLE. 



Flowers monoscious or dioecious, clustered, in loose cymes ; the upper widely 

 spreading and chiefly or entirely fertile ; the lower mostly sterile. Ster. FL 

 Sepals and stamens 5, with a rudiment of an ovary. Fert. FL Calyx of 4 

 sepals, the two outer or one of them usually minute, and the two inner much 

 larger. Stigma elongated awl-shaped, hairy down one side, persistent. Achene 

 ovate, flat, extremely oblique, reflexed on the winged or margined pedicel, 

 nearly naked. Perennial herbs, with stinging hairs, large alternate serrate 

 leaves, and axillary stipules. (Named for M. Laporte.) 



1 . L. Canad&isis, Gaudichaud. Stem 2-3 high ; leaves ovate, pointed, 

 strongly feather-veined (3 - V long), long-petioled ; fertile cymes divergent ; 

 stipule single, 2-cleft. Moist rich woods. July - Sept. 



10. PI LEA, Lindl. RICHWEED. CLEARWEED. 



Flowers monoecious or dioecious. Ster. Fl. Sepals and stamens 3-4. Fert. 

 Fl. Sepals 3, oblong, more or less unequal ; a rudiment of a stamen com- 

 monly before each in the form of a hooded scale. Stigma sessile, pencil-tufted. 

 Achene ovate, compressed, erect, partly or nearly naked. Stingless, mostly 

 glabrous and low herbs, with opposite leaves and united stipules ; the stami- 

 nate flowers often mixed with the fertile. (Named from the shape of the 

 larger sepal of the fertile flower in the original species, which partly covers 

 the achene, like the pileus, or felt cap, *tf the Romans.) 



