222 



URTICACE.E. 



Urtica. 



2. Urtica urens, Linn. Small Stinging Nettle. 



Leaves opposite, varying from elliptical to roundish-ovate, somewhat 5-nerved, coarsely 

 and acutely dentate-serrate ; clusters of flowers nearly simple, axillary, shorter than the leaves. 

 —Linn. sp. 2. p. 284 ; Engl. but. t. 1236 ; Pursh, fl. 1. p. 113 ; Ell. sk. 2. p. 570 ; Beck, 

 hot. p. 314. 



Annual. Stem 8-12 inches high, stinging, erect. Leaves 1-2 inches long, obtuse or 

 somewhat cordate at the base ; the serratures coarse and spreading. Flowers mostly dioecious, 

 in short dense clusters. Ovary ovate : style nearly terminal. 



Waste grounds and sandy fields. Long Island ; near Troy (Dr. Wright). Fl. July. Fr. 

 September. Introduced from Europe. 



§ 2. Laportea, Gaud. Calyx of the sterile floivers 5-parted : stamens 5. Calyx of the fertile 

 flowers 2-scpalled, foliaceous in fruit : stigma subulate, elongated: achenium obliquely lenticular- 

 ovate. 



** Leaves alternate. 



3. Urtica Canadensis, Linn. Canadian Nettle. 



Hispid and stinging ; leaves ovate, acuminate, serrate ; panicles axillary, loosely and 

 divaricately branched, the lower ones sterile, upper ones fertile. — Linn. sp. 2. p. 985 ; 

 Michx. fl. 2. p. 178 ; Pursh, fl. 1. p. 114 ; Ell. sk. 2. p. 573 ; Bigel. fl. Post. p. 341 ; 

 Beck, hot. p. 314; Darlingt.fl. Cest. p. 523 ; Hook. Jl. Bor.-Am. 2. p. 142. U. divaricata, 

 Pursh, I. c. p. 113 ; Beck, hot. p. 314. U. Whillowi, Muhl. in Green's cat. pi. N. York. 



Perennial. Stem 2-5 feet high, erect, branching. Leaves 3-6 inches or more in 

 length and 2-4 inches wide, thin, with coarse acute serratures, sometimes cordate, sprinkled 

 with hairs. Panicles longer than the petioles ; the lower ones mostly staminate : upper ones 

 large and widely spreading, with very hispid branches. Sterile fl. Calyx 5-parted ; the 

 segments roundish, concave. Stamens short, incurved. Rudimentary ovary hemispherical. 

 Fertile fl. Calyx of 2 oblong concave sepals. Achenium much compressed, smooth, very 

 oblique, finally refracted on the short broadly winged pedicel : persistent style lateral. Seed 

 ovate-lenticular. Embryo large, in the midst of thin fleshy albumen : cotyledon orbicular, 

 flattish. 



Moist shady soils, particularly along rivers. Fl. July. Fr. September. This (like several 

 other species of the genus) affords a strong fibre like hemp, and has been proposed to be used 

 as a substitute for that article, but it is hardly worth the trouble of cultivation. 



