# Manual of the New Zealand Flora/Urticaceæ

Order LXXVI. URTICACEÆ.
Herbs or shrubs or trees, of very diversified habit and foliage. Leaves alternate or opposite, entire or toothed or more rarely divided; stipules present. Flowers unisexual, small aud incon​spicuous, cymose or fascicled or capitate, rarely solitary, sometimes crowded on a variously shaped receptacle with or without an involucre. Perianth simple, herbaceous, of 1–5 equal or unequal lobes or segments, imbricate or valvate in bud, in the female flowers often smaller and with fewer segments, rarely absent. Stamens generally the same number as the divisions of the perianth and opposite to them; filaments short and erect, or longer and then inflexed in bud, sometimes elastic; anthers 2-celled, dehiscing lengthwise. Ovary superior, or rarely more or less inferior, 1-celled; style terminal or lateral, simple or 2-partite with stigmatose branches, or reduced to a sessile fringed or plumose stigma; ovule solitary. Fruit simple, a small drupe or berry or achene, or (in genera not found in New Zealand) compound and composed of a confluent mass of the fruits and perianths of several or many flowers. Seed erect or pendulous; albumen present or more generally wanting; embryo straight or curved, radicle superior.
In the circumscription of this order I have followed the "Genera Plantarum," but by many authors it is split up into 3 or 4, only 2 of which, however, are represented in New Zealand. Taken in the broad sense, it is a most important and widely spread family, found in all parts of the world, but most abundant in warm or tropical regions. The genera are over 100, and the species may be fairly estimated at 1500. It includes a large number of useful plants, only a few of which can be mentioned here. Of edible species, the fig, mulberry, and bread-fruit are the most important. Of fibre-plants, the common hemp, the paper-mulberry, and the rhea (Bœhmeria nivea). Several species of Ficus, and notably F. elastica, yield indiarubber. Ficus indica is the well-known banyan. The upas-tree (Antiaris toxicaria) is highly poisonous. Of the 6 indigenous genera, Urtica and Parietaria are widely spread in most temperate and tropical climates; Elatostema and Bœhmeria are mainly tropical; Paratrophis extends to the Pacific islands and Malay Archipelago; while Australina is found in Australia and South Africa.
| * Trees with milky sap. Flowers spiked. Fruit drupaceous; ovule pendulous | 1. Paratrophis. |
| ** Sap watery. Flowers solitary or glomerate or cymose. Ovule erect. ||
| Herbs with stinging hairs. Leaves opposite. Female perianth 4-partite | 2. Urtica. |
| Herbs. Leaves alternate. Flowers crowded on a fleshy discoid receptacle | 3. Elatostema. |
| Trees. Leaves 3-nerved. Female perianth tubular, enclosing the fruit | 4. Bœhmeria. |
| Herbs, without stinging hairs. Leaves alternate. Flowers in involucrate clusters. Female perianth tubular. Stigma tufted | 5. Parietaria. |
| Herbs, without stinging hairs. Leaves alternate. Flowers not involucrate. Female perianth tubular. Stigma linear | 6. Australina. |
1. PARATROPHIS, Blume.
Trees with milky juice. Leaves alternate, shortly petiolate, crenate or almost entire, penninerved; stipules small, lateral, caducous. Flowers diœcious, in axillary or rarely terminal soli​tary or geminate spikes. Male flowers: Numerous, usually closely placed. Perianth small, 4-partite; segments broad, obtuse, concave, imbricate. Stamens 4; filaments inflexed in bud; anthers didymous, 2-celled. Rudimentary ovary turbinate. Female flowers: Few and lax, or numerous and dense. Perianth very small, 4-partite; segments unequal, closely imbricate. Ovary straight, sessile, exserted, 1-celled; style deeply 2-partite; ovule solitary, pendulous. Fruit drupaceous, seated on the slightly enlarged persistent perianth, globose or ovoid, tipped by the short style; exocarp thin, fleshy; endocarp crustaceous. Seed subglobose; albumen scanty; cotyledons broad, foliaceous, conduplicate.
A small genus of 6 species, 3 of which are found in New Zealand, 2 in the Pacific islands, and 1 in the Philippines.
| Leaves ⅓–1½ in. Female spikes ¼–½ in., 3–8-flowered. Drupes 1–3 ripening on each spike, ⅙ in. diam. | 1. P. heterophylla. |
| Leaves 1½–3½ in. Female spikes ½–1 in., 8–25-flowered. Drupes usually many ripening on each spike, ¼ in. diam. | 2. P. Banksii. |
| Leaves 4–8 in., entire. Female spikes 2–4 in., many-flowered; flowers in 2 rows on each side of the rhachis. Drupe ⅓ in. diam. | 3. P. Smithii. |
1. P. heterophylla, Bl. Mus. Bot. Lugd. Bat. ii. 81.—A tree 15–40 ft. high, with a trunk 9–24 in. diam.; bark grey or almost white, rough with raised lenticels; branches numerous, crowded, glabrous or pubescent; those of young plants long and slender, flexuous, often interlaced, pubescent or setose at the tips, bark dark-brown. Leaves of young plants remote, ⅓–¾ in. long, broadly obovate to oblong-obovate, acute or obtuse, cuneate at the base, rather membranous, glabrous or pubescent, serrate, often irregularly lobed or almost pinnatifid; of mature trees ⅓–1½ in. long, oblong-ovate or oblong-obovate to elliptic, obtuse or acute, crenate or crenate-dentate, coriaceous, dark-green, prominently reticulate. Male spikes ⅓–1 in. long, shortly pedunculate, cylindric. Flowers closely packed, minute, sessile, intermixed with peltate scales. Perianth-segments rounded, margins ciliate. Stamens exserted. Female spikes ¼–½ in. long, 3–8-flowered. Flowers lax, very minute, intermixed with peltate scales. Perianth-segments appressed to the ovary, the 2 outer rather smaller. Drupe globose, small, red, ⅙ in. diam., usually 1 and seldom as many as 3 ripening on each spike.—Epicarpurus microphyllus, Raoul, Choix, 14, t. 9; Hook. f. Handb. N.Z. Fl. 251. Taxotrophis microphylla, F. Muell. Fragm. Phyt. Austr. vi. 193. Trophis opaca, Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 224 (in part).
North and South Islands: Not uncommon in lowland forests throughout. Turepo; Milk-tree. October–February.
Abounding in milky sap, which is said to be palatable. The wood is dense and heavy, but not durable. The spikes are often diseased, and converted into large much-branched panicles densely clothed with small imbricating bracts, the flowers being altogether aborted.
​2. P. Banksii, Cheesem. n. sp.—A small tree 15–25 ft. high, glabrous or the young branches pubescent; bark brown. Leaves usually close- set, spreading, 1½–3½ in. long, ovate-oblong or elliptic-oblong, obtuse or acute, coriaceous, glabrous, obtusely crenate or crenate-dentate, veins finely reticulate. Spikes solitary or geminate or rarely 3 together, axillary, rarely terminal, pedunculate. Males 1–2 in. long, cylindrical, densely many-flowered; flowers intermixed with peltate scales. Perianth rather larger than in P. heterophylla. Female spikes ½–1 in. long; flowers 8–25 or more, distichous, rhachis compressed. Drupe broadly ovoid, red, ¼ in. diam., always several and often many ripening on each spike.—P. heterophylla var. elliptica, Kirk in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xxix. (1897) 500, t. 46. Trophis opaca, Banks and Sol. ex Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 224.
North Island: Usually near the sea. Bay of Islands, Colenso! Whangarei Heads and Hen and Chickens Islands, T.F.C.; Great Barrier Island, Omaha, Kirk! Cuvier Island, T.F.C.; Cabbage Bay, Adams! East Cape district, Banks and Solander, Bishop Williams! Petrie! Cook Strait, Kirk! Stephen Island, H. H. Travers! November–February.
I advance this as a distinct species with considerable hesitation; but the much larger leaves, longer spikes, more numerous female flowers, and much larger and more numerous drupes are prominent characters, and although intermediates exist between it and P. heterophylla the two plants appear to be too wide apart to be treated as a single species.
3. P. Smithii, Cheesem. in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xx. (1888) 148.—A perfectly glabrous shrub or small tree 6–15 ft. high, with copious milky juice; branches long, slender, straggling, often flexuous and interlaced; bark dark-brown, rough with raised lenticels. Leaves 4–8 in. long, ovate-oblong or elliptic-oblong, obtuse or obtusely acuminate, rounded or obliquely cordate at the base, quite entire, dark-green, coriaceous; veins conspicuous, reticulated; stipules lanceolate, caducous. Spikes solitary or geminate, axillary or from the branches below the leaves, 2–5 in. long. Males cylindric, densely many-flowered; flowers intermixed with peltate scales. Perianth ⅛ in. diam.; segments rounded, spreading, pubescent externally. Females many-flowered, the flowers minute, densely packed in 2 irregular rows on each side of the flattened rhachis, intermixed with peltate scales. Perianth-segments rounded, obtuse, closely appressed to the ovary, the 2 outer rather smaller than the others. Ovary conic, exserted. Style deeply 2-partite. Drupe globose, bright-red, ⅓ in. diam.
North Island: Three Kings Islands, abundant, T.F.C.
Easily recognised by the large entire leaves and long many-flowered female spikes, with the flowers distichously arranged in 2 rows on each side of the rhachis.
2. URTICA, Linn.
Annual or perennial herbs or small shrubs, more or less armed with stinging hairs. Leaves opposite, petiolate, toothed or lobed, 3–7-nerved; stipules lateral, free or connate. Flowers small, green, monoecious or dioecious, in clusters arranged in axillary simple or branched racemes or panicles. Male flowers: Perianth deeply 4-partite; segments ovate or rounded, concave. Stamens 4, inflexed in bud. Rudimentary ovary cupuliform. Female flowers: Perianth deeply 4-partite; the 2 outer segments smaller than the inner. Ovary straight, ovoid; stigma sessile or nearly so, penicillate; ovule solitary, erect, orthotropous. Acheue ovoid or oblong, compressed, enclosed in the persistent perianth. Seed erect; albumen scanty; cotyledons rounded.
Species 30 to 35, widely spread in the temperate and subtropical regions of both hemispheres, rarer in the tropics. One of the New Zealand species extends to Australia, the remaining three are endemic.
| Shrubby, 3–10 ft. high. Stinging hairs copious, long, rigid. Leaves 2–5 in., narrow ovate-triangular to lanceolate | 1. U. ferox. |
| Herbaceous, stout, 1–3 ft. high, glabrous or nearly so. Stinging hairs few, weak. Leaves 3–6 in., ovate- or orbicular-cordate | 2. U. australis. |
| Herbaceous, stout, 1 ft. high, pubescent with greyish-white hairs. Leaves 2–3 in., broadly ovate | 3. U. Aucklandica. |
| Herbaceous, slender, 1–2 ft. high, glabrous. Stinging hairs few or many, weak. Leaves ½–2½ in., ovate-deltoid to lanceolate | 4. U. incisa. |
1. U. ferox, Forst. Prodr. n. 346.—A slender much-branched shrub, sometimes 6–10 ft. high with a woody trunk 3–4 in. diam. at the base, but usually from 2 to 5 ft.; stinging hairs copious, long, rigid, ⅙–¼ in. long; branchlets, petioles, and under-surface of leaves more or less finely pubescent. Leaves on long slender petioles; blade 2–5 in. long, narrow ovate-triangular to lanceolate-triangular, acuminate, broadest at the base which is truncate or rounded or cordate and often lobed or hastate, thin and membranous; margins deeply and coarsely toothed, the teeth ending in a long rigid bristle; stipules interpetiolar, entire. Flowers diœcious, in axillary racemiform panicles 1–2 in. long. Perianth densely pubescent, females smaller than the males. Nut ovoid, compressed, about 1/20 in. long.—A. Rich. Fl. Nouv. Zel. 354; A. Cunn. Precur. n. 333; Raoul, Choix, 42; Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 225; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 251.
North and South Islands: Lowland districts from the East Cape and Kawhia southwards to eastern Otago, not common. Sea-level to 1000 ft. Tree-nettle; Ongaonga. August–December.
A very distinct species, easily recognised by the large size, woody stems, and copious stipitate stinging hairs.
​2. U. australis, Hook. f. Fl. Antarct. i. 68.—Stems 1–3 ft. high, erect or decumbent at the base, stout, succulent, glabrous or sparingly clothed with short white hairs; stinging hairs few, weak, chiefly clustered at the nodes. Leaves opposite, the upper sometimes ternate; blade 3–6 in. long or even more, broadly ovateor orbicular-cordate, acute, coarsely toothed or crenate, rather fleshy, 5–7-nerved, glabrous or sparsely pubescent or setose; petiole stout, 1–4 in. long; stipules interpetiolar, large, bifid. Eacemes or panicles simple or branched, axillary, longer or shorter than the petioles, the lower male and the upper female, but both sexes occasionally mixed in the same panicle. Male perianth about 1/12 in. diam., glabrous or nearly so; female rather smaller. Nut ovoid, compressed, smooth, rather shorter than the persistent perianth.—Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 225; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 251.
North Island: "Southern extreme, Bidwill" (Handbook). Chatham Islands: H. H. Travers! Cox and Cockayne! Stewart Island: Not seen on the main island, but not uncommon on Dog Island and other small islands in Foveaux Strait, Kirk! Antipodes Island: Kirk! Auckland Islands: Sir J. D. Hooker, Kirk! December–March.
Remarkable for its stout succulent habit and large leaves. Although reported from the North Island in the Handbook, on the authority of Bidwill, of late years no New Zealand botanist has met with it on any part of the mainland of either the North or South Island.
3. U. Aucklandica, Hook. f. Fl. Antarct. i. 68.—A rigid herb, everywhere pubescent with short greyish-white hairs. Stems stout, erect, angled, about 1 ft. high; stinging hairs few, chiefly clustered at the thickened nodes. Leaves opposite, spreading, 2–3 in. long, 1½–2½ in. broad, broadly ovate, acute, usually cordate at the base, rather coriaceous, many-nerved, coarsely serrate or dentate; petioles stout, ½–1 in. long; stipules rather large, interpetiolar, 2-fid or 2-partite. Male flowers alone seen, in short axillary spikes. Perianth-segments 4, rounded, concave, setose on the back. Stamens 4; filaments short.—Handb. N.Z. Fl. 252.
Auckland Islands: Near the sea-beach at the margin of woods, rare, Sir J. D. Hooker.
I have seen no specimens of this, and the above description has been compiled from that given in the "Flora Antarctica." It appears to be very close to U. australis, differing chiefly in the smaller size and more rigid habit, and in the dense greyish-whice pubescence.
4. U. incisa, Poir. Encycl. Suppl. iv. 224.—Stems slender, erect or decumbent at the base, much or sparingly branched or simple, sparsely clothed with weak stinging hairs but otherwise glabrous, 1–2 ft. high, rarely more. Leaves on long slender petioles, very variable in size and shape; blade ½–2½ in. long, broadly ovate-deltoid to lanceolate, acute or acuminate, cordate or truncate or cuneate at the base, deeply and acutely toothed, membranous; ​stinging hairs few, weak. Spikes or racemes single or geminate in the axils of the upper leaves, often branched, longer or shorter than the petioles, the lower male and the upper female, or inflorescence altogether dioecious. Male perianth 1/15 in. diam., glabrous or nearly so; female perianth much smaller when in flower but enlarging as the fruit ripens. Nut ovoid, compressed, rather longer than the persistent slightly enlarged perianth.—Hook. f. Handb. N.Z. Fl. 251; Benth. Fl. Austral. vi. 190. U. lucifuga, Hook. f. in. Hook. Lond. Journ. Bot. vi. (1847) 285; Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 225.
Var. linearifolia, Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 225.—Leaves very narrow-linear, 1–3½ in. long, ⅛–½ in. wide. Spikes shorter, sometimes reduced to axillary glomerules.
North and South Islands: Not uncommon in shaded places, from the North Cape to Foveaux Strait. Sea-level to 4000 ft. Flowers spring and summer.
Also common in Australia and Tasmania, and very near to the northern U. dioica (which is sparingly naturalised in New Zealand), principally differing in the more slender habit, in not being conspicuously pubescent between the stinging hairs, and in the usually shorter spikes.
3. ELATOSTEMA, Forst.
Herbs, sometimes woody at the base. Leaves distichous, alternate, or if opposite one of each pair much smaller than the other, sessile or nearly so, oblique and unequal-sided; stipules lateral or intrapetiolar. Flowers very minute, densely crowded in axillary sessile or peduncled unisexual usually involucrate receptacles; involucral bracts broadly oblong or ovate, nearly free or confluent below. Male flowers: Perianth 4–5-partite; segments membranous or hyaline, often spurred or tubercled on the back. Stamens 4–5, inflexed in bud. Eudimentary ovary minute. Female flowers: Perianth of 3–5 very minute segments or altogether wanting. Stamens imperfect. Ovary straight; stigma sessile, penicillate; ovule erect. Achene minute, compressed, ovoid or ellipsoid, smooth or rarely ribbed. Seed erect; albumen usually wanting; cotyledons ovate.
About 50 species are known, for the most part natives of tropical Asia and Africa, but the genus extends northwards to Japan, and southwards to New Zealand.
1. E. rugosum, Author:Allan Cunningham (1791-1839)A. Cunn. Precur. n. 335.—Stems stout, succulent, decumbent or prostrate and rooting at the base, erect above, sparingly branched, 1–5 ft. high. Leaves alternate, 4–10 in. long, obovate-lanceolate or lanceolate, acuminate, curved, unequal-sided, auricled and semi-amplexicaul at the sessile base, sharply serrate, membranous, rugose, pubescent with minute rigid hairs on both surfaces; stipules lanceolate, membranous, deciduous. Receptacles monœcious, solitary in the axils of the leaves, sessile or shortly pedunculate, depressed-hemispherical, often lobed, ¼–½ in. ​diam. Males: Bracts broad, glabrous or puberulous. Flowers very numerous, pedicelled, hidden among the broad membranous bracteoles. Perianth 4-partite; segments abruptly acuminate, hyaline. Females with the bracts narrower and more pubescent. Bracteoles linear-spathulate, ciliate. Flowers almost sessile; perianth very minute, of 4 hyaline segments. Stigma penicillate. Achene minute, ovoid, smooth.—Raoul, Choix, 42; Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 227; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 253.
{{smaller block|North Island: Damp shaded ravines from the North Cape southwards to the middle of Wellington Province, but local to the south of the VVaikato River. Sea-level to 2000 ft. Parataniwha. Flowers spring and summer.
The heads or receptacles are usually described as unisexual, but it is not uncommon to find both sexes mixed in the same head.}
4. BŒHMERIA, Jacq.
Shrubs or small trees. Leaves alternate or opposite, toothed, 3-nerved; stipules usually free, deciduous. Flowers monœcious or diœcious, in small globose glomerules; glomerules axillary, either solitary or spiked or racemed or panicled. Male flowers: Perianth 3–5-lobed or -partite; segments valvate. Stamens 3–5, inflexed in bud. Rudimentary ovary clavate or globose. Female flowers: Perianth tubular, compressed or ventricose, mouth often contracted, 2–4-toothed. Ovary included, sessile or stipitate; stigma filiform, persistent; ovule solitary, erect. Achene closely invested by the persistent perianth, crustaceous. Seed albuminous; cotyledons ovate or elliptic.
Species about 50, widely spread through the tropics of both hemispheres.
1. B. dealbata, Cheesem. in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xxiv. (1892) 410.—A small tree 8–25 ft. high; branches terete, pubescent with minute appressed hairs. Leaves alternate, 3–6 in. long, ovate or ovate-lanceolate, acuminate, rounded at the base, rarely slightly cordate, obtusely serrate, prominently 3-nerved and with the secondary veins also strongly marked, green and glabrous and rugulose above, white and hoary beneath; petioles stout, ¾–2 in. long, grooved on the upper surface. Flowers minute, in small axillary sessile glomerules, which are either unisexual or androgynous. Male flowers: Perianth deeply 4-partite; segments oblongovate, acuminate, clothed with erect hairs. Stamens exserted. Females: Perianth tubular, dilated below, contracted at the 2-toothed mouth. Stigma exserted, long, filiform, hirsute. Fruiting-perianth much compressed, broadly winged. Achene very minute, ovoid, quite smooth.
Kermadec Islands: Sunday Island, not uncommon at low elevations. Flowers most of the year.
Nearly intermediate in characters between the Norfork Island B. australis and the Lord Howe Island B. calophleba, but apparently distinct from both.
5. PARIETARIA, Tourn.
Annual or perennial herbs. Leaves alternate, petiolate, quite entire, 3-nerved; stipules wanting. Flowers polygamous, in axillary cymes or glomerules, 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. n. 387.—A slender flaccid more or less pubescent diffusely branched annual herb 6–18 in. high. Leaves on long slender petioles; blade ½–1½ 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. Female flowers lateral; perianth evidently enlarged in fruit. Achene very minute, dark-brown, quite smooth.—A. Rich. Fl. Nouv. Zel. 354; Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 226; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 252; Benth. Fl. Austral. vi. 188. Urtica debilis, Endl. Prodr. Fl. Norfolk. 37; A. Cunn. Precur. n. 334; Raoul, Choix, 42.
Kermadec Islands, North and South Islands: Abundant as far south as middle Otago. Sea-level to 2500 ft. Flowers spring and summer.
6. AUSTRALINA, Gaud.
Diffuse or creeping annual or perennial herbs. Leaves alternate, petiolate, crenate-toothed or almost entire; stipules lateral, free. Flowers monœcious, 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. 505.—Stems very slender, creeping and rooting, much and often intricately branched, 3–12 in. long, more or less pubescent. Leaves ⅙–½ 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 solitaiy; peduncle variable in length, sometimes exceeding the petiole. Perianth irregularly bilabiate, green, membranous, hispid. Stamen large, exserted. Female flowers solitary or 2–3 together, each on a very short peduncle or sessile, in the same or in a different axil to the male inflorescence. Perianth very minute, flask-shaped, 2–3-toothed at the constricted mouth. Style exserted, villous.—Handb. N.Z. Fl. 252; Benth. Fl. Austral. vi. 189. A. novæ-zealandiæ, Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 226. A. hispidula, Col. in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xviii. (1886) 266.
North and South Islands: Dark shaded woods from Hokianga and the Bay of Islands to Foveaux Strait, but often very local. Sea-level to 1000 ft.