( 298 .) 
URTI'CA* * 
Linnean Class and Order. MoNfE'ciAf, Tetra'ndria. 
Natural Order. Urti’ce.®, Lindl. Syn. p. 218. ; Introduct. to 
Nat. Syst. of Bot. p. 93. — Rich, by Macgilliv. p. 540. — Loud. Hort. 
Brit. p. 534. — Mack. FI. Hibern. p. 232. — Hook. Brit. FI. (4th ed.) 
p. 419. — Urtjc.e, Juss. Gen. PI. p. 400. — Querneales; sect. 
Urticinak ; type, Urtica ceae ; subtype, Urticid,® ; Burn. Outl. 
of Bot. v. ii. pp. 523, 541, & 558. — Scabridje, Linn. 
Gen. Char. Sterile Flowers (figs. 2 & 3.) Calyx (see fig. 1.) 
of 4 roundish, concave, blunt, equal sepals, containing the cup- 
shaped rudiment of a pistil (nectary, Linn) . Corolla none. Filaments 
(see fig. 3.) 4, awl-shaped, spreading, opposite to the sepals, and 
about as long. Anthers of 2 round lobes. Fertile Flowers (see 
figs. 5 & 7). Calyx (see fig. 5.) inferior, of 2 equal, roundish, 
concave sepals. Corolla none. Germen (figs. 5 & 6.) superior, 
egg-shaped. Style none. Stigma (see figs. 5 & 6.) downy. Seed 
(figs. 8 & 9.) 1, naked, egg-shaped, rather compressed, polished, 
enclosed in the permanent calyx (see fig. 7). 
The sterile flower with a calyx of 4 sepals, containing the cup- 
shaped rudiment of a pistil ; and the fertile flower with a calyx of 
2 sepals, and- a superior, 1 -seeded fruit enclosed in the permanent 
calyx ; will distinguish this from other genera, without a corolla, in 
the same class and order. 
Three species British. 
URTI'CA DIO'ICA. Dioicous Nettle. Great Nettle. Common 
Stinging-Nettle. 
Spec. Char. Leaves opposite, heart-shaped, pointed. Clusters 
much branched, in pairs, mostly dioecious. Roots creeping. 
Engl. Bot. t. 1750. — Cuvt. FI. Lond. t. . — Woodv. Med. Bot. v. iii. p. 396. 
t. 146. — Curt. Brit. Entomol. v. vi. t. 288.— Linn. Sp. PI. p. 1396.— Hulls. FI. 
Angl. (2nd ed. ) p. 417. — Willd. Sp. PI. v. iv. pt. I. p. 352. — Sm. FI. Brit. v. iii. 
1 >. 1016. ; Engl. FI. v. iv. p. 135. — With. (7th ed.) v. ii. p. 237. — Gray’s Nat. Arr. 
v. ii. p. 252. — Lindl. Syn. p. 219. — Hook. Brit. FI. p. 403. — Lightf. FI. Scot. v. ii. 
p. 578. — Sihth. FI. Oxon. p. 62. — Abbot’s FI. Bedf. p. 208. — Thornt. Fam. Herb, 
p. 753, with a figure. — Davies’ Welsh Bot. p. 89. — Purt. Midi. FI. v. ii. p. 453. — 
Itelh. Fl. Cant. (3rdcd.) p. 391.— Hook. FI. Scot. p. 271.— Grev. FI. Ed. p. 201. — 
FI. Devon, pp. 153 and 136. — Johnst. Fl. of Berw. v. i. p. 205. — Winch’s Fl. of 
Northumb. and Durh. p. 61. — Walker’s Fl. of Oxf. p. 278. — Loud. Encyclop. of 
Gard. (ed. 1835) p. 882. parag. 4702. — Bab. Fl. Bath. p. 45. — Dick. Fl. Abrcd. 
p. 56. — Mack. Catal. of PI. of Irel. p. 81. ; Fl. Hibern. p. 233. — Urtica racemi- 
fera major per ennis, Ray’s Syn. p, 139. — Urtica urens, Johns. Ger. p. 706. 
» 
Localities. — W aste places, under walls, on hedge-banks, rubbish, and by road- 
sides ; very common. 
Perennial. — Flowers in July and August. 
Fig. 1. Calyx of Sterile Flower. — Figs. 2 & 3. Sterile Flowers. — Fig. 4. Imper- 
fect cup-shaped Pistil of ditto. — Fig. 5. A Fertile Flower. — Fig. 6. Germen and 
Pistil of ditto. — Fig. 7. Seed, accompanied by the permanent calyx. — Figs. 8 & 9. 
Seed. — Fig. 10. A Sting. — All, except fig. 8, magnified. 
* From uro, to burn ; in allusion to its stinging property, 
t Sec folio 83, note +. 
