NETTLE FAMILY 



URTICACEAE 



WOOD NETTLE 



Lapnrtea canadensis (L.) Gaud, 



The Nettle Family is represented in Illinois by many 

 species, but because they bloom inconspicuously only two 

 species are mentioned here — one noted not for attractive 



flowers but its stinging hairs, 



The Wood Nettle grows in rich 

 woods from .New Brunswick to 

 Ontario, Minnesota and south- 

 westward, and blooms from June 

 to September, It is perennial 

 by an underground stem. 



The plant is 1-4 feet tall 

 and thickly covered with sting- 

 ing hairs. The hairs 



are sharp enough to 

 penetrate clothing, 

 and this accomplish- 

 ed, the slightly en- 

 larged end easily 

 breaks off, allowing 

 the irritating acid 

 that fills the hollow 

 interior to strike the 

 skin. Fortunately the 



irritation does not last long. The leaves are thin and may be 



smooth or with some stinging hairs. 



The flowers are imperfect and the forms are separated, those 

 in the lower clusters being staminate and in the upper pistillate. 

 Each staminate flower consists of 5 sepals, 5 stamens and a 

 rudimentary ovary. The pistillate flower consists of 4 very un- 

 equal sepals and a simple pistil with a slender style that remains 

 on the akene fruit. 



Hemp, Cannabis sativa L., Is a minutely downy plant abundant 

 along some watercourses. It is grown in this country tor its fibers 

 which are used in cordage, and in the Orient it is the source of 

 hashish. The stem is 3-10 feet tall and the branches are nearly 

 erect. The petioled leaves, opposite or alternate, are palmately 

 5-1 i-divided to the base. The greenish, axillary flowers are dioecious, 

 the staminate panicled and the pistillate spicate. 



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