1. U. grácilis, Ait. Sparingly bristly, slender (2–6° high); leaves ovate-lanceolate, pointed, serrate, 3–5-nerved from the rounded or scarcely heart-shaped base, almost glabrous, the elongated slender petioles sparingly bristly; spikes slender and loosely panicled.—Fence-rows and moist ground, common. Stings few.
U. diòica, L. Very bristly and stinging (2–3° high); leaves ovate, heart-shaped, pointed, very deeply serrate, downy beneath as well as the upper part of the stem; spikes much branched.—Waste places and roadsides, rather rare. Canada and N. Eng. to S. C., west to Minn. and Mo. (Nat. from Eu.)
[*][*] Annuals; flower-clusters chiefly axillary and shorter than the petiole, androgynous.
U. ùrens, L. Leaves elliptical or ovate, very coarsely and deeply serrate with long spreading teeth, the terminal teeth not longer than the lateral ones; flower-clusters 2 in each axil, small and loose.—Waste grounds, near dwellings, eastward; scarce. Plant 8–12´ high, with sparse stings. (Nat. from Eu.)
2. U. chamædryoìdes, Pursh. Leaves ovate and mostly heart-shaped, the upper ovate-lanceolate, coarsely serrate-toothed; flower-clusters globular, 1–2 in each axil, and spiked at the summit.—Alluvial shaded soil, from Ky. to the Gulf States. Slender, 6–30´ high, sparsely beset with stings.
9. LAPÓRTEA, Gaudichaud. Wood-Nettle.
Flowers monœcious or diœcious, clustered, in loose cymes; the upper widely spreading and chiefly or entirely fertile; the lower mostly sterile. Ster. Fl. Sepals and stamens 5, with a rudiment of an ovary. Fert. Fl. Calyx of 4 sepals, the two outer or one of them usually minute, and the two inner much larger. Stigma elongated awl-shaped, hairy down one side, persistent. Achene ovate, flat, extremely oblique, reflexed on the winged or margined pedicel, nearly naked.—Perennial herbs, with stinging hairs, large alternate serrate leaves, and axillary stipules. (Named for M. Laporte.)
1. L. Canadénsis, Gaudichaud. Stem 2–3° high; leaves ovate, pointed, strongly feather-veined (3–7´ long), long-petioled; fertile cymes divergent; stipule single, 2-cleft.—Moist rich woods. July–Sept.
10. PÍLEA, Lindl. Richweed. Clearweed.
Flowers monœcious or diœcious. Ster. Fl. Sepals and stamens 3–4. Fert. Fl. Sepals 3, oblong, more or less unequal; a rudiment of a stamen commonly before each in the form of a hooded scale. Stigma sessile, pencil-tufted. Achene ovate, compressed, erect, partly or nearly naked.—Stingless, mostly glabrous and low herbs, with opposite leaves and united stipules; the staminate flowers often mixed with the fertile. (Named from the shape of the larger sepal of the fertile flower in the original species, which partly covers the achene, like the pileus, or felt cap, of the Romans.)