260 



URTICACE^E. 



[Diclinous Exogens. 



Order LXXXIV. URTICACEiE.— Nettleworts. 



Urticeae, Juss. Gen. 400. (1789) ; Gaudichaud in Freyc. Voyage, p. 503. (1826) ; Bartl. Ord. Nat. 105. 

 Urticacese, Endlich. Prodr. Nor/. 37 ; Gen. xciv. ; Mcisner, p. 348. 



Diagnosis. — Urtical Exogens, with small fiat stipules, limpid juice, a solit. erect ovule, a 

 straight albuminous embryo, and superior radicle. 

 Trees, shrubs, or herbs ; never milky. Leaves alternate, usually covered either with 

 asperities or stinging hairs, with membranous stipules, which are deciduous or con- 

 volute in vernation. Flowers herbaceous, inconspicuous, $ $ , (occasionally 



Fig. CLXXY 



intermixed) scattered, or clustered, or in catkins, or close heads. Calyx membranous, 

 lobed, persistent. <J Stamens definite, distinct, inserted into the base of the calyx, 

 and opposite its 

 lobes ; anthers 

 often curved in- 

 wards in aestiva- 

 tion, and turned 

 backwards with 

 elasticity when 



bursting. ? Ov- Ffe- clxxvi. 

 ary superior, simple ; ovule solitary, 

 erect ; stigma simple, fringed. Fruit 

 a simple indehiscent nut, surrounded 

 either by the membranous or fleshy 

 calyx. Embryo straight, with fleshy 

 albumen ; cotyledons flat ; radicle Fig. CLXXYII. 



superior. 



Nettleworts, as now circumscribed, consist almost entirely of rough-leaved plants, which, 

 although they occasionally acquire the stature of trees, have nevertheless little more 

 than a herbaceous texture, their wood being remarkable for its lightness, sponginess, 

 and profusion of cellular tissue. Their great distinction consists in their having a 



Fig. CLXXV.—l. Branch of Procris splendens ; 2. cluster of male and female flowers; 3. a male 

 flower about to expand ; 4. the same expanded . 



Fig. C'LXXVI. — Paiietaria officinalis ; one of the lenticular fruits both whole and divided perpendi- 

 cularly to show the embryo. 



Fig. CLXXV11— 1. A section of the ovary of Frtica dioica ; 2 the same when ripe, after the embryo 

 is developed. 



