SO. tee Tair “Rover Age oh Se eer ee 1497: 4. 
J04 URTICACEAE. | Parietaria. 
4. PARIETARIA(Toum.| (wu. ms. 
Annual or perennial herbs. Leaves alternate, petiolate, quite entire, 
3-nerved ; stipules wanting. Flowers polygamous, in axillary cymes or 
elomerules, sessile, bracteate. Male flowers (often hermaphrodite) : Perianth 
deeply 3-4-partite; segments valvate. Stamens 3-4, inflexed in bud. 
Female flowers: Perianth tubular at the base, 3-4-lobed. Ovary free 
within the perianth; stigma recurved, penicillate ; ovule solitary, erect. 
Achene enclosed in the variously enlarged persistent perianth, crustaceous. 
Seed albuminous; cotyledons oblong or ovate. 
A small genus of 7 or 8 species, generally distributed in both temperate and tropical 
regions. The single New Zealand species has almost the range of the genus. 
1. P. debilis Forst. {. Prodr. (1786) n. 387.—A slender flaccid more or 
less pubescent diffusely branched annual herb 6-18in. high. Leaves on 
long slender petioles; blade 4-14}in. long, broadly ovate or ovate-cordate, 
obtuse or obtusely acuminate, thin and membranous, quite entire, green 
on both surfaces, 3-nerved from the base. Cymes 3-7-flowered, almost 
contracted into sessile clusters; bracts linear, shortly united at the base. 
Hermaphrodite (or male) flowers usually in the fork of the cyme; perianth 
almost unchanged in fruit. Females flowers lateral; perianth evidently 
enlarged in fruit. Achene very minute, dark-brown, quite smooth.— 
A. Rich. Fl. Nouv. Zel. (1832) 354; Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. 1 (1853) 226; 
Handb. N.Z. Fl. (1864) 252; Benth. Fl. Austral. vi (1873) 188; Cheesem. 
Man. N.Z. Fl. (1906) 638. Urtica debilis Endl. Prodr. Fl. Insl. Norfl. 
(1833) 37; A. Cunn. Precur. (1836) n. 384; Raoul Chorx (1846) 42. 
KEeRMADEC IsLANDS, NorrH anp SoutH Istanps: Abundant as far south as 
middle Otago. Sea-level to 2500 ft. Flowers spring and summer. 
5. AUSTRALINA Gaud. {%&36 ae Vy. 
Diffuse or creeping annual or perennial herbs. Leaves alternate, petio- 
late, crenate-toothed or almost entire; stipules lateral, free. Flowers 
monoecious, in few-flowered axillary glomerules; glomerules unisexual or 
androgynous. Male flowers: 1-5 together at the summit of a common 
peduncle. Perianth irregularly bilabiate, the outer lip inflexed in bud. 
Stamen solitary. Rudimentary ovary wanting. Female flowers solitary 
or few together, sessile. Perianth ovoid-tubular, mouth contracted and 
obscurely toothed. Ovary free within the perianth ; stigma linear, villous ; 
ovule erect from the base. Achene enclosed in the persistent perianth ; 
pericarp thin, shining. Seed with scanty albumen; cotyledons ovate. 
A small genus of 6 species, 2 found in Australia, 1 of them extending to New 
Zealand, and 4 natives of South Africa and Abyssinia. 
1. A. pusilla Gaud. in Freyc. Voy. Bot. (1826) 505.—Stems very 
slender, creeping and rooting, much and often intricately branched, 3-12 in. 
long, more or less pubescent. Leaves }-} in. long, broadly ovate or orbicular _ 
or broader than long, rounded at the tip, cuneate or almost truncate at the 
base, obtusely crenate, thin and membranous, pubescent on both surfaces ; 
petiole as long or longer than the blade. Male flowers 2-3 together or 
solitary ; peduncle variable in length, sometimes exceeding the petiole. 
Perianth irregularly bilabiate, green, membranous, hispid. Stamen large, 
font, 
S7S. 
