URTICA. 



and liarmlefs. — Linn. Gen. 486. Schreb. 633. Willd. Sp. 

 PI. V. 4. 347. Mart. Mill. Dia. v. 4. Sm. Fl. Brit. 

 1014. Prodr. Fl. Graec. Sibth. v. 2. 233. Ait. Hort. 

 Kew. V. 5. 261. Purdi 112. JulT. 403. Tourii. t. 308. 

 Poiret in Lamarck Dift. v. 4. 636. Lamarck lUullr. 

 t. 761. G;Ertn. t. 119. — Clafs and order, Alonoirla Te- 

 trandr'ta. Nat. Ord. Scahridn, Linn. Urtica, JufT. 



Gen. Ch. Male, Cal. Perianth of four roundifh, con- 

 cave, obtufe leaves. Cor. Petals none. Neftary, the rudi- 

 ment of a germen, central, fmall, pitcher-fhaped, undivided, 



foliis ; Dodart Mem., Amfterdam edition, G^^. t. 38. 

 f. 2.) — Leaves oppofitc, ovate, nearly entire. Heads of 

 fruit globofc. — The native country of this fpecies is not 

 known, but the plant occurs frequently, as an annual weed, 

 in cultivated ground, in England as well as in France, and 

 is, to ufe the words of Dodart, more diilici'.k to deftroy 

 than to raife. Linnseus jufUy thought the prdcnt a doubtful 

 fpecies, there being no difference between it and the fore- 

 going, except the nearly entire kavcs, and more flcnder 

 habit. The late Mr. Davall gathered a wild fpecimen near 



tapering at the bafe. Stam. Filaments four, awl-(haped, Martigny, in Switzerland, of what he took for U. pilullfcra, 



fpreading, the length of the calyx, and oppofite to its but whicli feems to us U. Dodartii, more ferrated than 



leaves ; anthers of two globular cells. ufual, though Hill very unlike the broad coarfe peftinated 



Female, generally on the fame plant. Cat. Perianth of ferratures of the pUuUfera or balearica, to which this fpeci- 



two ovate, concave, ereft, permanent valves. Cor. none, men, neverthelefs, betrays an affinity, and confirms the fuf- 



Willd. n. 



Pifl. Germen fuperior, ovate ; flyle none ; ftigma downy. 

 Peric. none, except the clofcd calyx. Seed folitary, ovate, 

 compreffed, blunt-edged, polifhed. 



Elf. Ch. Male, Calyx of four leaves. Corolla none. 

 Rudiment of a germen cup-fhaped. 



Female, Calyx of two leaves. Corolla none. Seed one, 

 fuperior, polifhed. 



Seft. I. Leaves oppofite. 

 I. U. pUullfera. Roman Nettle. 

 Willd. n. I. Fl. Brit. n. i. Engl. 

 Illuflr. t. 79. Dodart Mem. t. 38. 

 Ger. Em. 706. Fuchf. Hift. ic6. 

 prima ; Matth. Valgr. v. 2. 469. 1 



/S. U. balearica; Linn. Sp. PI. 1395. 

 Ait. n. 2. " Blackwell Herb. t. 321. f. i." 



Leaves oppofite, ovate or fomewhat heart-fhapcd, deeply 

 ferrated. Heads of fruit globofe. — Native of the fouth of 

 Europe. Abundant amongll Rones and rubbilh on the 

 coafts of Norfolk and Suffolk, flowering in June and July, 

 and laden with ripening feed thr..ugh the autumn. Root 

 annual. Hirb branched, bufliy, armed in every part with 

 extremely venomous flings, wliofe wounds are more painful 

 than thofe of our two common fpecies. The^i-m is bluntly 

 quadrangular, often purplifh. Leaves ftalked, varying 

 much in breadth ; fometimes nearly lanceolate ; fomctimts 

 broadly ovate, or hcart-fhaped, even from the fame feed, or 

 on the fame plant, fo that U. baharka, which has the latter 

 charadler, is a mere variety : they are always of a dark and 



picion of Linnaeus, of their being all too nearly related. 

 Haller's having none of thefe fpecies in his work on Swifs 

 plants, made us anxious to determine Mr. Davall's plant, 

 and to clear up the citation above mentioned. U. Dodartii 

 ought no^v perhaps to find a place in the Flora Helvetica, 

 though Schleicher has it not in his lifts. U. integrifolia, 

 Lamarck n. 4, we prefume to be a lanceolate-leaved variety 

 of Dodartii. 



3. U. pumila. Dwarf Nettle. Linn. Sp. PI. 139?. 

 Willd. n. 4. Purfh n. 1. — Leaves oppofite, ovate, blunt- 

 pointed, three-ribbed, ferrated. Flower-flalks fomewhat 

 corymbofe, fliorter than the footflalks. — In fhady woods, 

 among rocks, from Canada to Carolina. Annual, flower- 

 ing in July. Smooth and fhining, very variable in fize. 

 Purjh. The Jlem in our fpecimens is fimple, about a fpan 

 high, fquare, flightly downy, almoft naked in the lower 

 part. Leaves an inch long, more or lefs, bluntly ferrated, 

 nearly fmooth and naked ; the lower fooljlalks longeft. 

 Flowers crowded, as if whorled. 



4. U. longifolia. Long-leaved Nettle. Willd. n. 5. 

 {U. verbafcifolia ; Lamarck n. 21.) — Leaves oppofite, 

 elliptic-obovate, acute at each end, triple-ribbed, ferrated. 

 Corymbs axillary, denfe, fhorter than the footftalks. — Ga- 

 thered by Conimerfon, in the ifland of Mauritius. Accord- 

 ing to a note, attached to one of Conimerfon's fpecimens, 

 what Lamarck and Willdenow took for a branch, is nearly 

 the wliole of the plant, Mi Jlem being fimple, not much 

 above a foot higli, angular, clothed with minute clofe- 



lurid green, copioufly and very coarfely ferrated, rugged, prcfied hairs or briftles, and bearing about four pair of 



veiny. Flowers pale green, ou axillary, generally twin, italked, rarely almofl feffik', leaves, four or five inches long, 



Jlalks, one of which is panicled, bearing numerous dillant and or.e and a lialf or two inches broad, roughifh on botli 



male bloffoms ; the other capitate, with only female ones, fides with minute deprefled briftles. Their ferratures are 



The fruit is a very prickly flinging ball, three quarters of fluillow, moft numerons towards the extremity. Flowers 



an inch in diameter, compofed of numerous tumid calyces, copious and fmall. Seeds thick-edged. The afpeft of this 



each containing a brown feed, like flax, but fmaller, as fpecies is like a Procris or Elatostema (fee the latter 



Diofcorides well defcribes it, this plant being, doubllefs, his article). Lamarck's name, verbafcifolia, is changed unwar 



firft fpecies of aj(-y.\ujii, or Nettle. Dr. Sibthorp found it rantably for tlie worfe, by Willdenow. 



very common in Greece and the Arcliipehigo. Linnxus y. U. cufpidata. Pointed-leaved Nettle. Willd. n. 6. 



quotes under U. balearica, U. pilulifera, toliis cordatis cir- (U. lucens; Lamarck n. 22, without any doubt. ) — Leaves 



Ci\mieTT3.\.h; Hall. Helv. 2"]. By way of corredlion. Will- oppofite, ovate, pointed, ferrated, three-ribbed, fmooth, 



denow inferts «/. />;-. or the firft edition ! But it fhould be and fhining. Corymbs axill.iry, capillary, lax, fpreading. 



Hall. Goett. 27, where this paffage niay be found, with a nearly as long as tlic footftalks. — Giitliered by Commerfoii 



reference to Dodonaeus, and to Malchant, which fliould be in the Mauritius. The branches are round, purplifh, very 



Marchant, or rather perhaps Dodart. This reference, fmooth, leafy. Leaves two or three inches long, ftrongly 



however, belongs to U. pilulifera. Schorigenam ; Hort. thougii bhnilly ferrated ; fomewhat hcart-fliaped at the bale ; 



Mai. v. 2. t. 39, is moreover quoted, though the plant their points bluntifli and entire. Fuoljlalks varying in length 



there figured and defcribed is Tragia involucrata. Such is from one to two inches. Corymbs often in pairs on one 



too often the hiflory of fynonyms ! The following fpecies common ftalk, on fome fpecimens much fliorter than the 



will fhevv why we judged it neceffary to unravel, with much footftalks. Flowers very fmall. Seeds minute, brown, 



labour, the above citation. fcarcely bordered. 



2. \J. Dodartii. Dodart's Nettle. Linn. Sp. PI. 1395. 6. V. prdiinciilaris. Long-ftalkcd Netlle. — Leaves op- 



Willd. n. 3. Ait. n. 3. (U. altera pilulifera, parietarix polite, ovate, pointed, ferrated, thrce-ribbcd, fmooth. 



Panicles 



