534 URTICACEAE. 



i. Boehmeria cylindrica (L.) Willd. 

 False Nettle. (Fig. 1269.) 



Urtica cylindrica L. Sp. PI. 1396. 1753. 

 Boehmeria cylindrica Willd. Sp. PI. 4: 340. 1805. 



A perennial rough pubescent or nearly smooth 

 and glabrous erect branching herb, i-3 tall. 

 Stem stiff; leaves ovate, ovate-oblong or ovate-lan- 

 ceolate, thin, slendcr-petioled, opposite, or some al- 

 ternate, coarsely dentate, i '-3' long, Yz'-iYz' wide; 

 petioles shorter than the blades; stipules lanceo- 

 late-subulate, distinct; flowers dioecious or androgy- 

 nous; staminate spikes usually interrupted, the pis- 

 tillate mostly continuous, %'-\Yz' long; achene 

 ovate-oval, acute, rather less than \" long. 



In moist soil, Quebec and Ontario to Minnesota, 

 south to Florida and Kansas. July-Sept. 

 Boehmeria cylindrica scabra Porter, Bull. Torr. Club, 

 16: 21. 1889. 



Leaves firm, rough above, tomentose beneath, short- 

 petioled or nearly sessile, usually reflexed; fruiting 

 spikes much longer than the petioles. Pennsylvania, 

 New Jersey, and southern New York. 



5. PARIETARIA L- Sp. PI. 1052. 1753. 



Annual or perennial stingless diffuse or erect herbs, with alternate entire 3-nerved per- 

 tioled leaves, no stipules, and axillary glomerate polygamous flowers, involucrate by leafy 

 bracts. Calyx of the staminate flowers 4-parted or of 4 (rarely 3) distinct sepals. Fertile 

 flowers with a tubular or campanulate 4-lobed calyx investing the ovary, a short or slender 

 style, and a penicillate stigma. Achene enclosed by the withering-persistent pistillate 

 calyx. [Ancient Latin, referring to the growth of some species on walls.] 



About 7 species, widely distributed; besides the following, another occurs in the southern 

 United States. 



i. Parietaria Pennsylvania Muhl. 

 Pennsylvania Pellitory. (Fig. 1270.) 



Parietaria Pennsylvanica Muhl.; Willd. Sp. PI. 4: 

 955- 1806. 



Annual, pubescent, stem weak, simple or spar- 

 ingly branched, ascending or reclining, very slen- 

 der, 4 / -i5 / long. Leaves lanceolate or oblong- 

 lanceolate, membranous, dotted, acuminate at the 

 apex, narrowed at the base, 3-nerved and with 1-3 

 pairs of weaker veins above, slender-petioled, \ f -^ f 

 long, ]^'-Yz' wide; petioles %'-\ f long, almost fili- 

 form; flowers glomerate in all except the lowest 

 axils, the clusters shorter than the petioles; bracts 

 of the involucre linear, 2-3 times as long as the 

 flowers; style almost none; achene about J^'long. 



On dry rocks and banks, Ontario to British Colum- 

 bia, south to Florida, Colorado and Mexico. June-Aug. 





Family n. 



1825. 



LORANTHACEAE D. Don, Prodr. Fl. Nepal. 142. 



MISTLETOE FAMILY. 



Parasitic green shrubs or herbs, containing chlorophyll, growing on woody 

 plants and absorbing food from their sap through specialized roots called haus- 

 toria (a few tropical species terrestrial). L/eaves in the following genera oppo- 

 site, in Razoumofskya reduced to opposite scales. Flowers regular, terminal or 

 axillary, clustered or solitary, dioecious or monoecious, and perianth simple, or 

 in some exotic genera perfect, and with perianth of both calyx and corolla. 

 Calyx-tube adnate to the ovary, its limb entire, toothed or lobed. Stamens 2-6; 

 anthers 2-celled or confluently i -celled. Ovary solitary, erect; style simple or 

 none; stigma terminal, undivided, obtuse. Fruit a berry. Seed solitary, its 

 testa indistinguishable from the endosperm, which is usually copious and fleshy; 

 embryo terete or angled. 



