URTICACEAE (NETTLE FAMILY) 89 
Means of suppression the same as for the Slender Nettle. 
Both this plant and the Slender Nettle yield a fiber said to be 
stronger and finer than that of flax, but no economic use has ever 
been made of them. 
WESTERN NETTLE 
Urtica holosericea, Nutt. 
Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom: August to September. 
Seed-time: September to October. 
Range: From Utah and the Wasatch Mountains westward through- 
out California. , 
Habitat: Waste places, borders of streams. 
A larger and stouter plant than 
either of the common Eastern 
Nettles, and possessed of vicious 
stings. Stem erect, unbranched, 
bristly hairy, frequently attaining 
to ten feet in height though more 
commonly four to seven feet tall. 
Leaves three to six inches long, 
ovate to lance-shape but obtuse 
at base, with short, stout petioles 
and oblong stipules; they are 
rather thick, hairy on both sides, 
but especially so on the lower 
surface. The staminate flowers 
are in loose, slenderly branching, 
axillary panicles nearly as long as 
the leaves ; pistillate panicles much 
shorter and more crowded, the per- 
sistent membranaceous calyx-lobe 
enfolding the achenes. (Fig. 50.) 
Means of control 
Cultivation of the ground for 
the purpose of destroying the per- 
ennial roots; or, small areas may 
Fic. 50.— Western Nettle (Urtica 
holosericea). X $. 
