FLAXTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR STEMS OR LEAVES. 117 



the plant and of extracting its fibres ^ may be found in 

 several books ; I shall confine myself here to defining as 

 clearly as I can its geographical origin. 



To attain this end we must not trust to the vague 

 expressions of most authors, nor to the labels attached 

 to the specimens in herbaria, since frequently no dis- 

 tinction has been made between cultivated, naturalized, 

 or truly wild plants, and the two varieties of Boehmeria 

 nivea (Urtica nivea, Linnaeus), and Boehmeria tenacis- 

 sima, Gaudichaud, or B. cancUcans, Hasskarl, have been 

 confounded together; forms which appear to be varieties 

 of the same species, because transitions between them 

 have been observed by botani.sts. There is also a sub- 

 variety, with leaves green on both sides, cultivated by 

 Americans and by M. de Maiartic in the south of France. 



The variety earliest known {Urtica nivea, L.), with 

 leaves white on the under side, is said to grow in China 

 and some neighbouring countries. Linnieus says it is 

 found on walls in China, which would imply a plant 

 naturalized on rubbish-heaps from cultivation. But 

 Loureiro ^ says, " habitat et ahundanter colitur in Cochin- 

 China et China," and according to Bentham,^ the collector 

 Champion found it in abundance in the ravines of the 

 island of Hongkong. According to Franchet and Sava- 

 tier,* it exists in Japan in clearings and hedges {infruti- 

 cetis umhrosis et sepibiis). Blanco ^ says it is common in 

 the Philippine Isles. I find no proof that it is wild in 

 Java, Sumatra, and other islands of the Malay Archi- 

 pelago. Rumphius ^ knew it only as a cultivated plant 

 Roxburgh' believed it to be a native of Sumatra, but 

 Miquel ^ does not confirm this belief. The other varieties 



> De Maiartic, Journ. d'Agric. Pratique, 1871, 1872, vol. ii. Ko. .31; 

 de la Eoqne, ibid., No. 29, Bull. Soc. d'AccJim., 1872, p. 463; Yilmoriii, 

 Bon Jardinier, 1880, pt. 1, p. 700; Vetillart, Etudes sur lea Fihrej 

 Vegetales Textiles, p. 99, pi. 2. 



^ Loureiro, Fl. Cochin., ii. p. 683. 



3 Bentliam, Fl. Hongkong, p. 331. 



* Franchet and Savatier, Enum. Plant. Jap., i. p. 439. 

 Blanco, Flora de Filip., edit. 2, p. 484. 



' Riimphias, Amboin, v. p. 214. 

 ' Roxburgh, Fl. Ind., iii. p. 590. 



iliquel, Sumatra, Germ, edit., p. 179. 



