402 LXVII. UETlCACEiE. [Boehrmria. 



2. BOBHMBBIA, Jacq. 



Shrubs or small trees witli opposite or alternate toothed or occasionally 

 lobed simple stipulate leaves. Flowers small dioicous or monoicous, in 

 globose usually 1 -sexual clusters. Male fl. : perianth 4- (rarely 3-) -lobed 

 or -partite, segments valvate in sestivation. Stamens as many as perianth- 

 segments. Pistil rudimentary. Female fl. : perianth tubular, compressed 

 or ventricose, usually narrowed to a minutely 2-4:-toothed mouth. Ovary 

 free or adherent, 1-ceUed, with a solitary erect or ascenditig ovule j style' 

 laterally stigmatose. Ifut dry. Seed with more or less albumen. 



Leaves alternate ; branches terete. 



Leaves broad-ovate, acuminate ; petiole half the length of 



leaf or longer 1. ^. nivea. 



Leaves elliptic-lanceolate ; petiole many times shorter than 



leaf 2. B. mgulosa. 



Leaves opposite ; branches four-sided. 

 Leaves broad-ovate ; petiole one-fourth the length of leaf or 



longer S. B. platyphylla. 



Leaves lanceolate ; petiole many times shorter than leaf . 4. B. macrophylla. 



1. B. nivea. Hook, et Arn. ; DC. Prodr. xvi. i. 206 ; Hooker's Journal 

 of Botany, iii. (1851) 315, t. 8. — Syn. Urtica nivea, Linn. U. tenacis- 

 sima, Eoxb. Fl. Ind. iii. 590; Wight Ic. t. 688. Ohina grass, Bheea. 



A shrub ; young branches and shoots herbaceous, branches and peti- 

 oles tomentose, with long soft hairs. Leaves alternate, broad-ovate, 3-6 

 in. long, acuminate, dentate with large triangdlar, slightly curved teeth, 

 base truncate but tapering suddenly into petiole, the upper side of leaf 

 pubescent and rough, the under side white, densely matted with closely 

 adpressed hairs ; basal nerves 3, all penniveined, the lateral nerves joined 

 by prominent transverse veins ; petiole half the length of leaf or longer, 

 stipules subulate, deciduous. Flowers greenish, monoicous, in axillary ' 

 panicles ; panicles in pairs, shorter than petiole, bearing numerous sessile 

 flower-heads along their entire length, female panicles in the upper, male 

 panicles in the lower axils. Style much exserted, hairy. ' 



Indigenous, and cultivated in China, .Japan, and the Indian Archipelago. 

 Cultivated in Assam, upper Bengal, and (within the last 20 years) in North-West 

 India. Fl. July-Sept. The inner bark of the young shoots contains one of the 

 finest fibres produced by the vegetable kingdom. It is soft, fine, with a beauti- 

 ful silky gloss, and at the same time exceedingly strong. The exquisite textures 

 known under the name of China grass cloth are made of it. Examined under 

 the microscope, Eheea fibre consists of large single tubes or elementary fibres, 

 whereas the fibre of jute, hemp, and flax, consists of bundles of tubes or elemen- 

 tary fibres. The elementary fibres of Eheea are much longer than those of jute, 

 hemp, or flax. Cotton, Uke Rheea, consists of single tubes (hairs), but they are 

 thinner, much shorter, and less strong. Rheea fibre is an article vastly superior 

 to jute (the produce of Corchorus capsularis, p. 37). Both fibres were brought 

 to notice in Europe about the beginning of this century, both are produced in 

 Bengal, but the value of the jute exported from India exceeds ^4,000^000 aryear, 

 and is now inferior in value only to the exports of cotton, opium, and rice, whereas 

 the export of Rheea is as yet insignificant. The reason of this is twofold. The 

 preparation of jute is easy, and that of Rheea difficult ; and secondly, jute thrives 



