Urticaceae 



389 



each side, the petioles slender, shorter to slightly longer than 

 the blades; flowers cymose, the peduncles glabrous or sessile, 

 the pistillate perianth-segments 5, nearly equal, broadly lanceo- 

 late, obtuse; achenes broadly ovate, pale, sublenticular, about 



1 mm. long, not punctate, smooth. Sept.-Oct. Woods in 



lowlands and foothills; Honshu (Kanto Distr. and westw.), 

 Shikoku, Kyushu. 



4. NANOCNIDE Bl. Katen-s6 Zoku 



More or less pubescent small monoecious herbs; leaves alternate, petiolate, ovate-orbicular or depressed, toothed or incised, 3- 

 to 5-nerved, the stipules free; staminate inflorescence in peduncled cymes, in the upper axils, the perianth 4- to 5-cleft, the seg- 

 ments with a transverse ridge on back; pistillate inflorescence a dense sessile axillary cyme or glomerule, the bracts free, the 

 perianth 4-cleft, the segments often with a small apical bristle, the outer ones slighdy broader, keeled on back; ovary erect; 

 achenes oblong, covered by the perianth but dehiscing from it when mature. Three species in Japan, China, and Ryukyus. 



1. Nanocnide japonica Bl. Katen-s6. Gregarious 

 perennial herb 10-30 cm. high; stems slighdy pubescent above, 

 soft, green; leaves deltoid or rhombic-ovate to orbicular, ob- 

 tuse, deeply obtuse-toothed, subtruncate at base, slightly pilose 

 on both sides, the stipules ovate, obliquely spreading, 1-2 mm. 

 long; staminate inflorescence distinctly peduncled, the peri- 

 anth white; pistillate flowers small, green, subsessile in short 



dense peduncled cymes in upper axils, the segments lanceolate, 

 slighdy longer than the achene; achenes lenticular, broadly 

 ovate, pale, punctulate, about 1.3 mm. long; sdgma mammil- 

 late, densely pubescent. Apr.-May. Shaded places in low- 

 lands and foothills; Honshu, Shikoku, Kyushu. Formosa 



and China. 



5. ELATOSTEMA Forst. Uwabami-so Zoku 



Herbs and subshrubs; stems rather thick; leaves alternate, sometimes with an odd minute opposite one, subsessile, toothed, 

 usually oblique at base, penninerved or 3-nerved; flowers small, unisexual, in involucrate dense headlike cymes, involucral bracts 

 free or connate, staminate perianth 4- to 5-merous; stamens opposite the perianth-segments; pistillate perianth minute, 3- to 5- 



parted, persisent; sdgma penicillate; achenes small, ovate, usually longitudinally striate. About 60 species, in Africa and Asia, 



especially abundant in the Tropics. 



lA. Staminate glomerules pedunculate; leaves long-caudate; some of the nodes thickened in autumn 1. £. iimbellatum 



IB. Staminate and pistillate glomerules sessile or nearly so; nodes never thickened. 

 2A. Stems spreading-pilose; leaves brownish green when dried, slightly caudate-acuminate with an obtuse tip; bracts setulose. 



2. E. dfnsiflorum 

 2B. Stems nearly glabrous; leaves vivid yellow-green when dried, acute with an obtuse tip, not elongate above; bracts densely puberulent. 



3. E. laetevirens 



1. Elatostema umbellatum Bl. Procris umbellata (Bl.) 

 Sieb. & Zucc; Pellionia umbellata (Bl.) Wedd.; E. japonicum 

 Wedd. HiME-uwABAMi-s6. Soft, green, glabrous, peren- 

 nial herb; stems 15-30 cm. long, ascending to erect and un- 

 branched below, often declined and branched above, rather 

 fleshy or juicy, terete, short-decumbent at base; leaves 2-seriate, 

 alternate, rather thin and soft, oblique, narrowly ovate, 1.5-7 

 cm. long, 8-20 mm. wide, elongate and long-caudate with an 

 obtuse tip, sessile, penninerved, with 2-4(-5) coarse teeth; 

 staminate glomerules pedunculate, 1-3 cm. long, the pistillate 

 ones small, axillary, sessile, the bracts sUghtly puberulous 



above; achenes pale, about 0.6 mm. long, loosely warty. 



May-July. Moist shaded places in mountains; Honshu (Kanto 

 Distr. and westw.), Shikoku, Kyushu. 



Var. majus Maxim. E. umbellatum var. involucratum (Fr. 

 & Sav.) Makino; E. involucratum Fr. & Sav.— ■ — Uwabami-so. 

 Plants rather large; stems 20-50 cm. long; leaves 5-12 cm. long, 

 2-4 cm. wide, with 5-12 coarse teeth on each side, the bracts 

 broadly lanceolate to eUiptic; achenes about 0.8 mm. long, 

 nearly smooth. May-July. Moist shaded places in moun- 

 tains; Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, Kyushu. 



2. Elatostema densiflorum Fr. & Sav. E. nipponicum 

 Makino Toki-hokori. Annual; stems erect below, as- 

 cending above, 10-25 cm. long, juicy, often branched, spreading- 

 pubescent; leaves oblique, cuneate-oblong, 4-8 cm. long, 2-3 

 cm. wide, acute with an obtuse dp, cuneate at base on one side, 

 rounded on the other, slighdy pubescent on nerves beneath, 

 coarsely toothed above, subtrinerved; inflorescence sessile, the 

 bracts short-setulose. Sept.-Oct. Shaded places in low- 

 lands; Honshu (n. and centr. distr.). 



3. Elatostema laetevirens Makino. E. sessile var. cus- 



pidatum sensu Maxim., non Wedd. Yama-tokihokori. 



Perennial rhizomatous herb with stolons, resembling the pre- 

 ceding but glabrous; stems fleshy, terete, ascending above, 

 decumbent below, 15-40 cm. long; leaves vivid green, 2-seriate, 

 slightly elongate above and caudate with an obtuse up; in- 

 florescence sessile, the bracts densely short-pubescent outside. 



Aug.-Oct. Woods in mountains; Hokkaido, Honshu, 



Shikoku, Kyushu. 



6. PELLIONIA Gaudich. Sansho-s6 Zoku 



Dioecious or monoecious herbs sometimes from a woody base; leaves alternate, nearly sessile, 2-seriate, oblique at base, entire 

 or toothed, the stipules small or obscure; cymes axillary, sessile or peduncled, often densely flowered, capitate; flowers 4- to 5- 

 merous; ovary erect; stigma penicillate; achenes small. About 20 species, in the Tropics of Asia. 



