Genus Neraudia - — -COWAN 
233 
In the taxonomic portion of this paper I have 
attempted to discover what the older concepts 
were and how the names were applied by study- 
ing available plates, descriptions, and the types 
of some of the groups. 
RELATIONSHIPS OF THE GENUS NERAUDIA 
Taxonomists differ in their interpretation of 
the family Urticaceae but even if it is divided 
into four families, as is done by many workers, 
Neraudia is still most logically assigned to the 
segregate family Urticaceae. As may be seen in 
Table 1, Neraudia shows some of the characters 
which have been used to separate two of these 
families. To summarize the table: the genus 
shows two characters overlapping between the 
two families; three features in common with 
the Urticaceae; one feature characteristic of the 
Moraceae. The presence of this overlapping 
would seem to indicate that the lines separating 
the families are not particularly well-defined. 
The use of the milky sap character in the segre- 
gation is not worthy of the importance attached 
to it by some workers. Possibly the aggregate 
interpretation of the family with several tribes 
would be a more logical and valid one than that 
of several rather weakly delimited families. 
To determine which genus of the Urticaceae 
Neraudia most closely approaches morphologi- 
cally (in an attempt to establish relationships) 
I have made a relatively complete review of the 
treatment of the family by Weddell (1856- 
1857). In his key to the genera of the "Boeh- 
merieae,” Neraudia is placed in a group with 
Cypholophus, Sarcochlamys, T ouchardia, and 
Laurea. Of these, Cypholophus seems to be the 
genus most similar to Neraudia. In Cypholophus 
a fleshy perigone develops at maturity but it in- 
vests the achene very closely, whereas the ach- 
enes of Neraudia are completely free, with 
considerable space between them and their 
perigones. The flowers of Cypholophus are 
borne in dense heads as contrasted to the very 
loose groups of individual flowers of Neraudia. 
I find that Neraudia (in Weddell’s treatment) 
shows the greatest morphological similarity to a 
genus of the preceding section of the key, the 
genus Pouzolsia, rather than to any of those in 
the previously mentioned section. This is a large 
genus distributed throughout the tropics with 
nine species in the Indian area and three from 
the East Indies. Table 2 presents some of the 
similarities and dissimilarities between these 
two genera. A definite statement of the rela- 
tionships of these genera cannot be made until 
material of Pouzolsia from the many localities 
where it occurs has been examined critically; 
it does seem, however, that there is rather close 
relationship between the two. 
There is also considerable similarity in gen- 
eral habit, floral structure, leaf characters, and 
type of fruit in Neraudia, Pip turns, and Boeh- 
meria, but the first is separable from the others 
by the accrescent, fleshy calyx which surrounds 
the achene when it is mature. The achenes of 
Pipturus, surrounded by the dried and shriveled 
calices, are imbedded in a white, insipid, fleshy 
mass in the leaf axils. 
TABLE 1 
Relationships of Neraudia to the Segregate Families Moraceae and Urticaceae. 
CHARACTER 
URTICACEAE 
MORACEAE 
NERAUDIA 
Sap 
Watery 
Milky 
Milky 
Phyllotaxy 
Alternate or opposite 
Alternate 
Alternate 
Fruit 
Achene 
Aggregate or multiple 
Achene 
Stamens 
Folded inward 
Folded inward or straight 
Folded inward 
Ovule 
Erect 
Pendulous 
Erect 
Embryo 
Straight 
Curved or spiral 
Straight 
