URTICA. 



Jap. 70. Willd. n. ^^ Leaves alternate, heart-ITiaped, 



bluntly ferrated, hairy, on very fliort ftalks. Flowers in 

 feflile,' fcattered, globular heads. — Native of Japan. The 

 Jiem is herbaceous, round, hardly a fpan high, with alter- 

 nate wide-fpreading branches. Leaves obtulc, unequal, as 

 long as the nail. Heads of flowers minute, difpcrfed over 

 the branches. 



61. \5. fejfiiiflora. Den fe-vvhorled Nettle. Swartz Ind. 

 Occ. 321. Willd. n. 56. — Leaves roughiih, elliptical, ta- 

 pering at each end ; ferrated towards the point : the upper 

 ones fometimes oppofite. Clufters very (hort, in denfe 

 axillary whorls. Stem ereft, round, nearly fmooth. — Na- 

 tive of rocky mountainous places, in the interior of Jamaica. 

 Root perennial, branched, fibrous. Stem a foot high, 

 Ihrubby at the bafe, divided upwards, fcarcely roughiih ; 

 the branches generally, not always, alternate. Leaves two 

 inches or two inches and a half long, and an inch and a 

 quarter wide acrofs the middle, fomewhat triple-ribbed, 

 rather flefhy ; roughiih on the upper fide only, (not ftnig- 

 ing,) with very minute (hort briftles. Footjlalts an inch or 

 inch and half long, fmooth. Stipulas none. F/oiuers mo- 

 noecious, very fmall, forming little denfe w^horls. 



62. U. muralts. Arabian Wall Nettle. Vahl Symb. 

 V. I. 77. Willd. n. 57. (U. parafitica; Forfl<. iEgypl.- 

 Arab. 160. ; — Leaves alternate, ovate, three-ribbed, downy, 

 equally ferrated. Stipulas lanceolate, pointed, diftinft. 

 Clullcrs very fhort, in denfe axillary whorls — Found by 

 Forflcall, on' the walls of Coffee-gardens, in Arabia. Pe- 

 rennial. Stem a foot high, round, downy ; hoary in the 

 upper part. Leaves an inch and a half long, pointed, 

 fliarply ferrated, clothed with foft (haggy pubefcence, efpe- 

 cially the upper ones, not dinging ; entire at the bafe and 

 point. FootJIalks an inch in length. Whorls villous and 

 hoary. Differs from U. japonica, n. 59, in the equal fer- 

 ratures, and even furface, of its leaves, as well as in its feflile 

 heads oi jloivers. Vahl. 



63. U. caffra. Caffre's Nettle. Thunb. Prodr. 31. 

 Willd. n. 58. — Leaves alternate, ovate, fomewhat heart- 

 fhaped, ferrated. Flowers axillary, feffile. Stem weak, 

 not quite ereft. — Native of Southern Africa. Thunlerg. 



64. U. ruderal'u. Otaheite Nettle. Forft. Prodr. 66. 



Willd. n. 59 Leaves alternate, ovate, fomewhat heart- 



fhaped, bluntly ferrated, fmooth. Panicles axillary, co- 

 rymbofe, divaricated, ftalked, nearly equal to the leaves. — 

 Gathered by Forller in Otaheite and the Society ifles. 

 His fpecimen before us is a foot long, woody, alternately 

 fubdivided, and appears to be but a branch of a fhrubby 



jiem, of confiderable fize. Willdenow, on the contrary, 

 fpeaks of the ftems as only a finger's length. The leaves are 

 above an inch long, on long ftalks ; paler beneath, but we 

 do not find them at all rough. Panicles on long, fmooth, 

 angular ftalks. Seeds ovate, bordered, light brown, fome- 

 what wrinkled. 



65. U. lepiofachya. Slender-fpiked Nettle — Leaves al- 

 ternate, ovate, ferrated ; rough on the upper fide. Spikes 

 axillary, folitary, fimplc, cyhndrical, downy, on ftalks 

 much longer tlian the leaves. — Gathered by Commerfon, in 

 the ifie of Bourbon. We do not find it any where de- 

 fcribed. The root is perennial, creeping very extenfively. 

 Herb not Ringing. Stem a foot high, or more, ereft, round, 

 fimple, leafy, downy or roughifh. Leaves fcattered, an 

 inch or inch and a half long, on (lender downy and briftly 

 ftalks, half that length ; their upper furface harfh to the 

 touch ; under fmoother, but with hairy ribs. Flower-Jlalks 

 ere£l, three or four inches long, fiender, undivided, from the 

 bofoms of the fmaller upper leaves, befides a terminal one, 

 6 



larger than the reft ; they are all naked below ; minutely 

 braCteated in the upper part ; and each terminates in a denfe 

 fpike of numerous {e^\\e Jloivers, all female, as far as we can 

 difcern, in our fpecimen. Calyx ovate, turgid, downy. 



66. U. divarkata. Wing-ftalked Nettle. Linn. Sp. 

 PI. 1397. Willd. n. 60. Pur(h n. 7. (U. racemofa 

 major virginiana, mitior, five minils urens ; Pluk. Phyt. 

 t. 237. f. 2, excluding the fynonyms.) — Leaves alternate, 

 ovate, rougliilh, ftrongly ferrated. Clufters coinpouiiJ, di- 

 varicated, as long as the leaves : male flower-ftalks winged, 

 wedge-fliaped Gathered in Canada by Kalm, whofc ori- 

 ginal fpecimen is before us. If Mr. Purfti's plant be the 

 fame, of which there appears fome doubt, we have his au- 

 thority for this fpecies inhabiting (hady woods, in rocky 

 fituations, from Canada to Carolina, flowering in Auguft. 

 Neither Willdenow nor Poiret ever faw U. divarkata. Its 

 general afpeft is fo like Jacquin's figure of U. sjluans, fee 

 n. 57, that we fhould fuppofe that figure belonged to the 

 prefent fpecies, were the very pecuhar wedge-fhaped,, mem- 

 branous-winged ftalks, of the mA^jio'wers, there repre'fented. 

 Thefe could not have efcaped the obferving Jacquin, though 

 not expreffed by Plukenet, vhofe plant may indeed be dif- 

 ferent from our's, and yet not the fame with the following. 

 The ftem of U. divaricata is tawny, ftrongly furrowed, 

 (lightly prickly. Leaves three or four inches long, ovate, 

 with a (mall finus at the bafe, pointed, copioufly and ftiarply 

 ferrated, on briftly footjlalks ; they have fcarcely more than 

 one principal rib ; they are roughifh on both fides, but ef- 

 pecially the upper, with extremely minute points, and fome 

 fcattered briftles. The clujlers are terminal, or at leaft 

 crowded about the top of the ftem, feveral together, fpread- 

 ing, ftout, twice compound ; their common ftalks briflly, as 

 are the partial ones, more or lefs. Thofe of the malejlotuers, 

 a quarter of an inch long, we have already defcribed ; thefe 

 flowers are all paft in our fpecimen. The feeds are of 

 greater diameter than muftard-feed, nearly orbicular, obHque, 

 comprefled, fmooth, brown, with a curved point ; their 

 ftalks fhort and fimple. Crt/j.-c very fniall. We hope fome 

 North American botanift will illuftratc this curious fpecies, 

 and its fynonyms. 



67. \5. canadenjis. Canada Nettle. Linn. Sp. PI. 1397. 

 Willd. n. 61. Ait. n. 16. Pur(h n. 8. Michaux 

 Boreal. -Amer. v. 2. 178, excluding Plukenet's fynonym. 

 (U. racemofa canadenfis ; Dodart Mem., Amfterdam, ed. 

 631. t. 37. U. virginiana major racemofa mitior, feu 

 minus urens ; Morif. feft. 11. t. 25. f. 2.^ — Leaves alter- 

 nate, ovate, fomewliat hairy, ferrated. Stipulas obtufe. 

 Clufters axillary, compound, fpreading, fhorter than the 

 leaves ; the lower ones male, feflile ; upper feniale, ftalked. 

 — Near rivulets, in rocky or fandy fituations, from Canada 

 to Carolina, efpeciaUy on the mountains, flowering in July 

 and Auguft. The root is perennial, reddifli, rather woody, 

 with ftout fibres. Stems four or five feet high, annual, ereft, 

 fimple, roundifti, ftriated, (lightly briftly ; their fibres 

 tough. Leaves three or four inches long, pointed, fome- 

 times a little unequal at the bafe ; flightly hairy on both 

 fides, rather liarfh to the touch, but not flinging. Foot- 

 jlalks an inch long, briftly, with a pair of rounded reddifh 

 Jtipulss at their infertion. Our L;nna:an fpecimen is defti- 



tute oifotuers. Dodart compares them to thofe of the 

 "Common Nettle;" we prefume U. dioica ; and fuch is 

 nearly their apper-rance in a fpecimen from Jacquin's old 

 herbarium, at fir J. Banks's, marked by miftake divaricata; 

 but they are more flenderand branched than in dioica. 



68. U. hirfuta. Hairy Arabian Nettle. Vahl Symb. 

 v. I. 77. WiUd. n. 62. ( U. divaricata ; Forfk. jEgypt.- 



Arab. 



