Mffrioa.] AMENTACE^. 323 



Leaves evergreen, obovate-obloHg^ mostly obtuse, 3 to 3 in. long, entire or 

 very rarely slightly toothed at tie top, coriaceous and glabrous. Male catkins 

 about 1 in. long, solitary or clustered, not divided; but within the lower scales 

 are often 3, 3, or more lateral ones, sometimes with 1 or 2 stamens in their 

 axUs, showing a tendency in the catkin to ramify. (Drupes globular, densely 

 covered with resinous dots.) 



Hongkong,; Champion. On .the Chinese continent, in Looohoo and Japan. It is very near 

 also to the common Indian M. sapida. Wall. ; bnt has much more obtuse leaves, and the 

 catkins apparently never panicnlately branched as in that species. 



Okdee XCVIt. URTICE^. 



Flowers unisexual or rarely poly^toous, usually in cymes or heads, not in 

 catkins. Perianth calyx-like, of 1 to 5 divisions. Stamens as man.y as peri- 

 anth-segments, and opposite to them, rarely reduced to fewer or one. Anthers 

 3-ceIled. Ovary free, or rarely adherent, 1-celled, with 1 ovule, rarely 3-celled, 

 with 3 ovules, of which 1 only comes to perfection. Style usually short or 

 none, with 1 or 2 long or short stigmas. Fruit a 1-seeded indehiscent drupe, 

 or winged samara, or small seed-like nut. Albumen fleshy or none. Eadicle 

 superior. — Trees, shrubs, herbs, or climbers, furnished with stipules. Foliage 

 and inflorescence very various. A scabrous surface and a milky juice or acrid 

 or stinging secretions are very common. 



A large Order, distributed over nearly the whole world, abundant nrithiu the tropics, less 

 so in temperate regions, and rare in cold climates. 



Styles or stigmas 2, equal. Trees or shrubs. Mowers cymoae, polyga- 

 mous or dioecious. Klaments nearly erect in the bud. 

 Flowers polygamous, the fertile ones hermaphrodite. 



Stamens not exceeding the perianth. Stigmas linear .... 1. Cbitis. 



Stamens exserted. Stigmas short, plumose 2. Sponia. 



Mowers dioecious. Stigmas subulate 3. Gieonniera. 



Style or stigma simple, unilateral, or rarely with a second shorter 

 branch. 

 Mowers minute, very closely packed on or inside a succulent recepta- 

 cle. Trees or shrubs. 



Mowers outside a globular or oblong receptacle 4. Artocaepus. 



Mowers inside a hollow, globular, ovoid or pear-shaped receptacle . 6. Ficus. 

 Mowers distinct, in cymes, clusters, heads, or spikes. (Herbs or under- 

 shrubs.) 



Female perianth 4- or 5-cleft. Stigma short, tufted 6. Pellionia. 



Female perianth tubular, enclosing or adhering to the ovary and fruit. 

 Stigma iiliform. Perianth enclosing the fruit. 



Clusters of flowers in axillary panicles. Stigma persistent . 7. Boehmeria. 

 Clusters of flowers single and sessile. Stigma deciduous. 

 Male perianth sm-rounded by a prominent ring. Leaves 3- 



nerved to the top 9. Memokiaus. 



Male perianth without appendages. Leaves 3-nerved at the 



base only 8. Pouzolsia. 



Stigma disk-shaped. Perianth adnate 10. Villeerunia. 



1. CBLTIS, Linn. 



Flowers polygamous, in axiUary or lateral cymes. Perianth deciduous, of 

 4 or 5 segments, imbricate in the bud. Stamens as many, incurved, shorter 



Y 3 



