Epicarpurus.~\ 
LXXI. URTICE.E. 
251 
Perianth of 4 leaflets. Ovary ovoid ; styles 2, with subulate stigmas ; 
ovule suspended. Fruit a drape or nut, 1-seeded. Seed pendulous ; albu- 
men 0 ; cotyledons conduplicate ; radicle curved upwards. 
A small, tropical Asiatic genus. 
1. E. micropLylius, Raoul, Choix, 14. t. 9 ; — Trophis (?) opaca, Banks 
and Sol. ; — FI. N. Z. i. 224. A large tree, 50-60 ft. high, variable in habit 
and foliage, abounding in milky sap ; branches brittle, pubescent at the tips ; 
bark brown. Leaves petioled, 4-2 in. long, ovate-oblong, serrate, obtuse or 
acute, with reticulate veins on both surfaces. Male fl. : minute, in catkins 
■y—f- in. long, which are solitary or panicled ; — -fern. fl. in much shorter- 
fewer-flowered spikes. Drupe small, red. 
Northern and Middle Islands: as far south as Akaroa, Banks and Solander. 
“ Milk-tree ” of the colonists ; the male spikes often become diseased, and present panicled 
branches covered with minute bracts. 
2. URTICA, Linn. 
Herbs or small shrubs, with stinging hairs, rarely glabrous. Leaves oppo- 
site. Flowers unisexual, glomerate, on simple or branched spikes. — Male: 
Perianth 4-partite. Stamens 4. Ovary imperfect. Female: Perianth un- 
equally 4-partite. Ovary ovoid ; stigma sessile ; ovule erect. Fruit a small, 
dry nut. Seed compressed ; albumen scanty ; cotyledons plano-convex. 
A considerable genus of tropical and temperate plants, iucluding the common “ Stinging 
Nettle,” now probably naturalized in New Zealand. 
Herbaceous. Stinging hairs copious. Leaves variable I. U. incisa. 
Herbaceous, stout. Stinging hairs few. Leaves very broadly cordate 2. U. australis. 
Shrubby. Stingiug bairs most copious, 4 in. long. Teeth of leaves 
bristle-pointed 3. TJ.ferox. 
Herbaceous. Stinging hairs few. Leaves very pubescent .... 4. It. aucklandica. 
1. u. incisa, Poiret; — U. lucifuga. Hook. f. Fl. N. Z. i. 225. A 
slender herb, sparingly covered with stinging hairs, 1-2 ft. high. Leaves with 
long petioles, extremely variable in form, length, and breadth, 2 in. long, 
from naraow -lanceolate or linear to broadly ovate-cordate, acute, acutely 
deeply toothed ; petiole very slender ; stipules oblong or lanceolate, acute. 
Northern and Middle Islands: common. Banks and Solander, etc. Also common 
in Southern Australia and Tasmania. The female perianth is sometimes tubular and 
4-toothed. 
2. U. australis, Hoolc.f. Fl. N. Z. i. 225. A stout, succulent herb, 
1-2 ft. high, glabrous, except for a few scattered, weak, stinging hairs. 
Leaves large, upper sometimes ternate, 3-4 in. long, very broadly ovate- or 
almost orbicular-cordate, acute, deeply toothed or crenate ; petioles 1-3 in. 
long ; stipules large, 2-fid. Flowers racemose, monoecious ? 
Northern Island: southern extreme, Bidwill. Lord Auckland’s Islands: in 
woods, J. I). H. 
3. U. ferox, Forst. ; — Fl. N. Z. i. 224. A tall, slender shrub, copiously 
covered with rigid stinging hairs r in. long, stem woody ; branchlets, 
petioles, and leaves below, puberulous. Leaves 2-5 in. long, narrow ovate- 
cordate or linear- or lanceolate-oblong, always broader at the cordate some- 
