Urticaceae 



391 



toothed, green and slightly hirsute above, densely white- 

 woolly beneath with spreading-hairs on the nerves, the peti- 

 oles slender, as long as to slighdy shorter than the blade; 

 panicles 5-10 cm. long, loosely glomerate; pistillate perianth 

 with short ascending hairs; sdgma rather short; achenes about 



1 mm. long. Sept. Cultivated and occasionally naturalized 



in Honshu, Shikoku, Kyushu. Malaysia, China, and Indo- 

 china. 



Var. candicans Wedd. B. iitilis Bl.- — Ramii. Parts 

 larger; leaves broadly cuneate at base, the petioles usually 

 longer than the blade; frequendy cultivated in our area for 

 fiber. s. China, Philippines, and Malaysia. 



2. Boehmeria nipononivea Koidz. B. frutescens sensu 



auct. Japon., non Thunb. Kara-mushi. Resembles No. 1 



but more slender, the stems and petioles short-hirsute; leaves 

 broadly ovate, membranous, caudately acuminate, rounded or 

 sometimes broadly cuneate at base, the petioles shorter than the 



blade; inflorescence shorter; stigma short. Aug.-Sept. 



Honshu, Shikoku, Kyushu. China and Formosa. 



Var. concolor (Makino) Ohwi. B. nivea var. concolor 



Makino Ao-kara-mushi. Leaves scarcely white-woolly 



beneath. Occurs with the typical phase. 



3. Boehmeria spicata (Thunb.) Thunb. IJrtica spicata 

 Thunb.; U. japonica L. f.; B. japonica Miq., quoad syn. 



Ko-AKA-s6. Subshrub with branched woody base; stems 



50-100 cm. long, erect, the branches rather slender; leaves 

 membranous, rhomboid-ovate, 4-8 cm. long, 2.5-4 cm. wide, 

 caudate at apex, coarsely toothed, cuneate to broadly cuneate 

 at base, slighdy pilose on both sides especially on the nerves 

 beneath, the petioles usually reddish; glomerules of staminate 

 flowers loosely arranged, small, the pistillate perianth minutely 

 puberulous; achenes about 1 mm. long; stigma slender, rather 

 elongate. .^ug.-Oct. Mountains; Honshu, Shikoku, Kyu- 

 shu; common. China. 



Boehmeria minor Satake. Ko-yabu-mao. Intermediate 

 between B. spicata and B. biloba, differing from the former in 

 the relatively larger parts, with leaves slightly bullate and 

 rugulose above and prominently short-pilose beneath, espe- 

 cially on the nerves. 



4. Boehmeria tricuspis (Hance) Makino. B. platy- 

 phylla var. tricuspis Hance; B. japonica var. tricuspis (Hance) 



Maxim. Aka-s6. Erect perennial herb about 50-80 cm. 



high; stems simple, usually reddish, nearly glabrous or spar- 

 ingly short-pilose; leaves thin, ovate-orbicular, 8-20 cm. long, 

 5-15 cm. wide, coarsely toothed, broadly cuneate to truncate at 

 base, usually deeply incised at apex, long caudate between the 

 incision, slighdy short pilose above and on the nerves beneath; 

 achenes about 1.5 mm. long, enclosed in die minutely puberu- 



lent perianth; stigma rather short. July-Sept. Hills and 



mountains; Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, Kyushu; rather com- 

 mon. China. 



Var. unicuspis Makino. B. paraspicata Nakai Kusa-ko- 



Aio\-s6, Maruba-ko-aka-s6. Leaves scarcely incised and not 

 caudate. Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku. 



5. Boehmeria formosana Hayata. TArwAN-roRi-ASHi. 

 Stems erect, often branched below, somewhat woody at base, 

 sparingly short appressed-pilose; leaves rather membranous, 

 ovate-oblong, 8-12 cm. long, 3-6 cm. wide, short-acuminate, 

 cuneate to broadly cuneate at base, toothed, nearly glabrous 

 above, sparingly short pilose on nerves beneath, the petioles 1-5 

 cm. long; glomerules of pistillate flowers small, forming a 

 slender uninterrupted spike in fruit, the perianth slightly ap- 

 pressed-pilose; achenes about 1.5 mm. long; stigma short. 



Kyushu (Yakushima). Ryukyus, Formosa, and China. 



6. Boehmeria sieboldiana Bl. B. platyphylla var. sieb- 

 oldiana (Bl.) Wedd. Nagaba-yabu-mao. Erect peren- 

 nial herb; stems 1-2 m. long, scattered short-pilose above; 

 leaves rather thin, oblong-ovate to ovate, 10-20 cm. long, 4-10 

 cm. wide, caudately acuminate at apex, broadly cuneate to 

 rounded at base, regularly tootiied, slightly pilose to nearly 

 glabrous on both sides, the petioles rather slender; glomerules 

 of pistillate flowers rather contiguous, the perianth slightly ap- 

 pressed-pilose on upper half; achenes 2-2.5 mm. long; stigma 



slender, rather elongate. Aug.-Oct. Hills and lowlands; 



Honshu (s. Kanto Distr. and westw.), Shikoku, Kyushu. Poorly 

 known are: 



Boehmeria egregia Satake. Shima-nagaba-yabu-mao. 

 Closely allied to B. sieboldiana but with larger parts, rather 



short stigmas and usually 3 stamens. Honshu (Izu Isls. and 



Awa Prov.) . 



Boehmeria pseudosieboldiana Honda. Inu-yabu-mao. 



With thicker leaves slightly obtuse at base. Kyushu. Similar 



to but may not be conspecific with B. sieboldiana. 



7. Boehmeria biloba Wedd. B. bifida BL; Splitgerbera 



japonica Miq.; B. splitgerbera (Miq.) Koidz. Raseita-so. 



Coarse perennial herb; stems 30-70 cm. long, rather stout, 

 scabrous, brownish red; leaves thick, broadly ovate, obovate- 

 orbicular or ovate-orbicular, 6-15 cm. long, 4-10 cm. wide, 

 short-acuminate, acute to cuneate at base, often shallowly 2- to 

 3-lobed toward the apex, rather minutely toothed, often un- 

 equal, prominently bullate and scabrous above, impressed and 

 short-pilose on nerves and veinlets beneath; glamerules of 

 pistillate flowers contiguous, forming a rather short thick spike 

 in fruit, the perianth with short ascending hairs; achenes nar- 

 rowly cuneate, about 1.5 mm. long. Aug.-Oct. Waste 



ground and rocky cliffs near seashores; Hokkaido (s. distr.), 

 Honshu. Poorly known are: 



Boehmeria arenicola Satake. Hama-yabu-mao; B. 

 kiyozumensis Satake. Kiyosumi-yabu-mao; and B. tenui- 

 folia Satake. Usuba-raseita-s6. Reported from the seashore 

 area of Kanto District, Honshu; all are intermediate between 

 B. biloba and B. longispica. 



8. Boehmeria Idusiana Satake. Tsukushi-yabu-mao. 

 Resembles B. sieboldiana, but with leaves very hairy beneath 

 and the perianth of the pistillate flowers hairy; intermediate 



beUveen B. biloba and B. longispica. Aug.-Sept. Honshu 



(Nagato Prov.), Kyushu (Chikuzen Prov.). 



9. Boehmeria pannosa Nakai & Satake. Saikai-yabu- 

 MAO. Large, stout perennial herb; stems robust, densely 

 short-pubescent above; leaves broadly ovate to rounded-cordate, 

 10-20 cm. long and as wide, short-acuminate, rounded to shal- 

 lowly cordate at base, rather regularly toothed, with short 

 coarse hairs above, densely short-pubescent beneath; glomer- 

 ules of pistillate flowers in fruit loosely arranged in axillary 



spikes, the perianth rather densely short-hairy above. Aug. 



Honshu (Nagato Prov.), Kyushu. 



Boehmeria gigantea Satake. Ni6-yabu-mao. Large 

 poorly understood plant with coarsely toothed leaves; perhaps 

 closely allied to B. pannosa. Honshu (Suwo Prov.). 



10. Boehmeria holosericea Bl. B. platyphylla var. holo- 

 sericea (Bl.) Wedd. Oni-yabu-nl\o. Large stout peren- 

 nial; stems 1-1.5 m. long, rather densely short-pubescent; 

 leaves rather thick, ovate-orbicular, 10-15 cm. long and as 

 wide, obtuse to shallowly truncate-cordate at base, hairy above, 

 densely short-pubescent beneath, the upper ones with coarse 

 acute double teeth; pistillate glomerules rather thick in fruit. 



