NETTLE FAMILY. 297 



leaves upon the young snoots and suckers present a remarkable diversity 

 of shape. The pistillate tree is much less common than the staminate ; 

 and is even more objectionable than that, in streets, on account of the 

 dirty appearance produced by the fallen fruit. The inner bark of this 

 tree affords the South Sea Islanders a kind of tough paper, which they 

 use as substitute for cloth. 



6. MACLU'RA, Nutt. OSAGE-ORANGE. 



[Xamed in honor of William Maclure, a munificent patron of Natural Science.] 



FLOWERS dioecious. STAMINATE FL. racemose. Calyx 4-parted. PISTIL- 

 LATE FL., capitate, densely crowded, and coalesced, on a globose fleshy 

 receptacle. Sepals 4, in opposite pairs, oblong, cucullate-concave, fleshy. 

 Ovary sessile, 1-celled ; style terminal, bifid, one branch elongated and 

 much exserted, stigmatose on the inner side the other branch small or 

 abortive. Akenes severally embraced by the fleshy sepals, which are all co- 

 alesced into a large compound globose lactescent berry, with a glabrous, 

 but uneven, verrucose or irregularly tessellated surface. Small trees, with 

 branches armed with very sharp slender spines. 



1. M, auranti'aca, Nu't. Leaves lance-ovate, acuminate, entire, gla- 

 brous and shining above, roughish-puberulent beneath ; berry subsessile, 

 axillary, solitary. 

 ORANGE-LIKE MACLURA. Osage-orange. Bow-wood. Bodock. 



Ktem 15-25 or 30 feet high, with a much-branched bushy top, the branches virgate, 

 but often inclined to droop or curve downwards, armed with small and very sharp spines. 

 Leaves 4-6 inches long, subcoriaceous, mucronate by the extended midrib ; petioles 1-2 

 inches long ; stipules oblong, somewhat cucullate, caducous. Pistillate flowers coalesced 

 in a solid globose head, which is 2 to near 3 inches in diameter, when fully grown ; styles 

 near an inch long, villous and finally purplish. 



youth Western States. Fl. May- June. Ft: Sept. -Oct. 



06s. The roots of this tree are of a bright orange color, and so abun- 

 dant and extensive as to be troublesome in gardens. The wood is very 

 hard and durable. It was highly valued by the aborigines as a mate- 

 rial for making bows, from which fact it was called by the early French 

 settlers Bois d'arc, which has degenerated into Bodock in some parts of 

 the country. Silk-worms feed greedily upon its leaves ; and the plant, 

 properly managed, makes a very neat and effective hedge. 



7. URTI'CA, L. NETTLE. 



[Latin, uro, to burn, tactus, touch ; from the sensation produced by touching it.] 



Flowers morwcious or dioecious, in panicled racemes or spikes, or close 

 clusters. STAM. FL. Sepals 4. Stamens 4, inserted around the cup- 

 shaped rudiments of a pistil. PISTILLATE FL. Sepals 4, in opposite 

 pairs ; the outer pair much smaller, somewhat keeled, spreading ; the 

 two inner flat or concave, in fruit membranaceous and enclosing the 

 straight and erect ovate flattened akene. Stigma pencil- tufted. Plaute 

 with opposite leaves, greenish flowers, and armed with stinging hairs. 

 13* 



