5. Inflorescences unisexual, the lateral containing many male flowers, the middle one a single female flower. Receptacle covered on the outside by imbricate bracts. Male flowers with a 3-4-partite perianth and
3-4 stamens. Female flowers without a perianth. Trees or shrubs.
Leaves undivided.—Species 2. Central Africa. Mesogyne Engl.
Inflorescences bisexual, containing many male flowers and one or several female ones, usually provided with bracts on the margin only. Perianth
2-lobed or wanting. Stamens 2, rarely 1 or 3. 6
6. Receptacles top-shaped, subsequently cupular, bearing many male flowers and a single central female flower. Pericarp membranous. Shrubs.
Leaves undivided.—Species 5. Central Africa. Trymatococcus Poepp. & Endl.
Receptacles expanded, often divided into linear segments, bearing many male flowers and several female ones. Pericarp crusty within, fleshy outside. Herbs or low shrubs.—Species 50. Tropics. Some are poisonous or used medicinally. (Plate 31.) Dorstenia L.
7. Female flowers solitary, axillary; male flowers in spike-like inflorescences.
Perianth 4-toothed. Trees. Leaves undivided.—Species 1. Island of Réunion. Used medicinally. [Tribe STREBLEAE.] Maillardia Frapp. & Duchartre
Female flowers in spike- or head-like inflorescences. 8
8. Female flowers in head-like, but sometimes elongated (oblong) inflorescences, the male in spike-, raceme- or head-like ones. Style simple, with a thread-shaped stigma, rarely with an abortive side-branch.
Trees. [Tribe BROUSSONETIEAE.] 9
Female and male flowers in spike-like inflorescences. Perianth of the female flowers divided to the base. Style 2-parted, with thread-shaped, equal or subequal stigmas. [Tribe MOREAE.] 12
9. Male flowers in head-like inflorescences. Perianth of the female flowers
4-lobed. Spinous plants.—Species 1. East Africa and Madagascar.
It yields a dye-wood and edible fruits. (Under Plecospermum Trecul) Cardiogyne Bur.
Male flowers in spike- or raceme-like inflorescences. 10
10. Male flowers in lax, raceme-like inflorescences. Spinous plants. Leaves entire. Perianth of the female flowers deeply 4-cleft, persistent and enclosing the fruit.—Species 1. Cultivated in North Africa. The wood is used for joiners’ work, the leaves as food for silkworms. Maclura Nutt.
Male flowers in dense, spike-like inflorescences. Spineless plants. 11
11. Perianth of the female flowers deeply 4-cleft or 4-parted. Fruit wholly, or for the greatest part, enclosed by the perianth. Leaves undivided.—Species
2. Central Africa. They yield timber. Chlorophora Gaud.
Perianth of the female flowers shortly toothed. Fruit overtopping the perianth. Leaves usually lobed.—Species 1 (B. papyrifera Vent., paper-mulberry). Cultivated in North Africa. Used for making paper;
the fruit is edible. Broussonetia Vent.
12. Stipules united. Leaves entire, with numerous transverse nerves. Ovary subglobose. Seed with leaf-like, folded cotyledons. Shrubs.—Species
2. Madagascar. Pachytrophe Bur.
Stipules free. 13
13. Leaves entire, penninerved, leathery. Ovary compressed. Seed without albumen; embryo with thick cotyledons. Trees.—Species 2. Madagascar. Ampalis Boj.
Leaves toothed, 3-nerved at the base. Ovary ovoid or subglobose. Seed with copious albumen.—Species 3. Cultivated and naturalized in various regions. They yield timber, food for silkworms, edible fruits
(mulberries), dyes, and medicaments. Morus L.
14. (1.) Ovule erect, straight. Trees. Leaves folded in the bud. Stipules leaving an annular scar. [Subfamily CONOCEPHALOIDEAE.] 15
Ovule pendulous, curved or inverted. Woody plants with the leaves rolled inwards in the bud, or herbaceous plants. 16
15. Leaves divided into 11-15 segments. Male flowers in false heads arranged in cymes; perianth with a distinct tube. Stamen 1. Female flowers upon a flattened, ovate receptacle. Style long.—Species 1 (M. Smithii
R. Br.). West Africa to the Upper Nile. Yields timber (cork-wood) and edible fruits. The aerial roots contain much water. Musanga R. Br.
Leaves undivided, 3-lobed, or 5-7-parted. Male flowers in false spikes or heads arranged in cymes; perianth divided quite or nearly to the base. Stamens 2-4. Female flowers in globose or subglobose false heads. Style short.—Species 8. Central Africa. Some species yield timber or edible fruits. Myrianthus Beauv.
16. Flowers in cymes arranged in spikes or panicles. Fruit dry. Herbs.
Leaves palmately lobed or dissected. Stipules free. [Subfamily
CANNABOIDEAE.] 17
Flowers upon a globe-, club-, disc-, or cup-shaped receptacle. Herbs with undivided, lanceolate, penninerved leaves, or more frequently shrubs or trees. Leaves undivided or lobed, coiled in the bud. Stipules usually united and leaving a stem-clasping scar. [Subfamily ARTOCARPOIDEAE.] 18
17. Stem twining. Leaves opposite, lobed or the upper ones undivided.
Female flowers in catkins. Embryo spirally twisted, with narrow cotyledons.—Species
1 (H. Lupulus L., hop). Cultivated in the extratropical regions. It is used for making beer, as a vegetable and a fibre-plant, and in medicine. Humulus L.
Stem erect. Leaves opposite below, alternate above, dissected. Female flowers in panicles. Embryo curved, with broad cotyledons.—Species
1 (C. sativa L., hemp). Cultivated in various regions. It yields fibre, oil, and an intoxicating drug (hashish). Cannabis Tourn.
18. Flowers enclosed within a pouch-shaped, usually bisexual receptacle provided at the top with a small opening surrounded by bracts. Embryo
curved. Shrubs or trees.—Species 160. Some of them yield timber, bast-fibres, bark for clothing, india-rubber, shellac, vegetables, medicaments, and edible fruits (especially the figs, from F. carica L.) which are also used for making brandy and a substitute for coffee. Some species are poisonous or serve as ornamental plants. [Tribe FICEAE.] Ficus L.
Flowers collected on a globe-, club-, disc-, or cup-shaped receptacle. 19
19. Receptacles more or less cup-shaped, containing many male flowers and a single central female one. Stamen 1. Embryo straight. [Tribe
BROSIMEAE.] 20
Receptacles of two kinds, some containing only male flowers, the others only female or many female intermixed with several male. Shrubs or trees. 22
20. Perianth distinctly developed. Ovary free. Herbs or undershrubs.—Species
3. Equatorial West Africa. (Including Cyatanthus Engl.) Scyphosyce Baill.
Perianth not distinctly developed. Ovary immersed in and adnate to the receptacle. Trees. 21
21. Receptacles covered with peltate bracts on their whole surface. Male flowers with, female without bracts.—Species 2. West Africa (Congo). Bosqueiopsis De Wild. & Dur.
Receptacles bearing bracts on the margin only. Female flowers with, male without bracts.—Species 6. Tropics. Some yield timber and dye-stuffs. Bosqueia Thouars
22. Male flowers on a discoid or concave receptacle bearing numerous bracts on the edge or the whole surface; female flowers on a similar receptacle or solitary. [Tribe OLMEDIEAE.] 23
Male flowers on a globular or club-shaped receptacle bearing bracts at the base only and between the flowers, or destitute of bracts; female flowers on a more or less globular receptacle. [Tribe ARTOCARPEAE.] 24
23. Male inflorescences many-flowered, discoid; female 1-flowered. Male flowers with, female without a perianth.—Species 3. Central Africa.
Poisonous, used medicinally, and yielding timber and fibre. Antiaris Leschen.
Male and female inflorescences many-flowered, more or less concave. Male flowers without, female with a perianth.—Species 2. Cultivated in the tropics. Yielding india-rubber. Castilloa Cerv.
24. Inflorescences without bracts at the base. Flowers monoecious. Stamen
1.—Species 2. Cultivated in the tropics. They yield timber, bark used for making cloth, bast-fibres, mucilage, starch, edible fruits, and medicaments. “Breadfruit tree.” Artocarpus Forst.
Inflorescences with some bracts at the base. Flowers dioecious. Stamens
1-5. 25
25. Female flowers surrounded each by two rows of very unequal bracts or perianth-segments, not intermixed with male flowers.—Species 1.
Equatorial West Africa (Cameroons). Acanthotreculia Engl.
Female flowers surrounded by subequal bracts and intermixed with some male flowers.—Species 9. Tropics. Some species have edible seeds from which also oil and meal are prepared. Treculia Decne.
[FAMILY 54.] URTICACEAE
Juice not milky. Leaves usually stipulate. Flowers unisexual, rarely (Parietaria) polygamous. Perianth simple, with 1-5 segments, sometimes wanting in the female flowers. Stamens in the male flowers as many as perianth-segments. Filaments broadened at the base, bent inwards in the bud. Anthers attached by the back, opening by longitudinal slits. Ovary 1-celled. Ovule 1, erect or ascending, straight. Style 1 or 0. Fruit indehiscent. Seed with a thin coat and a straight embryo, usually albuminous.—Genera 20, species 150. (Plate 32.)
1. Stamen 1. Perianth of the male flowers entire or divided in 2-3 segments, of the female entire 4-toothed or wanting. Stigma linear. Herbs or undershrubs, rarely shrubs. Hairs not stinging. Stipules free. [Tribe
FORSKOHLEAE.] 2
Stamens 2-5. 4
2. Flower-clusters without an involucre and not surrounded by woolly hairs.
Female flowers with a perianth.—Species 4. South and East Africa.
(Didymodoxa E. Mey.) Australina Gaudich.
Flower-clusters with an involucre and usually surrounded by woolly hairs.
Female flowers without a perianth. 3
3. Involucral bracts free or united at the base only. Stem rough. Herbs undershrubs or shrubs.—Species 5. Forskohlea L.
Involucral bracts united high up. Stem smooth. Herbs or undershrubs.—Species
5. Tropical and South Africa. Droguetia Gaudich.
4. Stipules absent. Leaves alternate, entire. Plants without stinging hairs.
Female flowers in glomerules surrounded by an involucre; perianth 4-cleft.
[Tribe PARIETARIEAE.] 5
Stipules present, very rarely rudimentary, but then leaves toothed. 6
5. Stem herbaceous. Flowers polygamous. Stigma spatulate and recurved.—Species
8. Some are used in medicine. “Pellitory.” Parietaria Tourn.
Stem woody. Flowers unisexual. Stigma linear.—Species 1. Canary
Islands. Gesnouinia Gaudich.
6. Plants with stinging hairs, very rarely (Fleurya) almost glabrous, and then stigma linear-oblong and shortly papillose and perianth of the female flowers 3-4-partite. Perianth-segments of the female flowers 4, rarely
1-3. Embryo with orbicular cotyledons. [Tribe UREREAE.] 7
Plants without stinging hairs. 12
7. Fruit straight. Stigma penicillate. Leaves opposite. Herbs.—Species
10. They yield material for spinning and paper-making and are used as pot-herbs and in medicine. “Nettle.” Urtica Gaudich.
Fruit oblique. Leaves alternate. 8
8. Stigma more or less capitate. Perianth surrounding the fruit fleshy. Shrubs or trees, rarely undershrubs.—Species 20. Tropical and South-East
Africa. Urera Gaudich.
Stigma linear or oblong. 9
9. Perianth of the female flowers reduced to a single, sometimes 2-parted, large segment, more rarely consisting of 2 unequal segments. Herbs with punctiform cystoliths.—Species 3. Tropics. Girardinia Gaudich.
Perianth of the female flowers with 4 segments, of which 1-2 are sometimes rudimentary. 10
10. Cystoliths linear. Annual herbs. Fruit gibbous, as long as or longer than the perianth.—Species 7. South and Central Africa. They yield fibre and fish-poison. (Plate 32.) Fleurya Gaudich.
Cystoliths punctiform. Perennial herbs or woody plants. 11
11. Fruit as long as or longer than the perianth, smooth.—Species 3. Central
Africa. (Urticastrum Heist.) Laportea Gaudich.
Fruit much shorter than the membranous perianth. Shrubs.—Species
6. Madagascar, Mascarenes, East Africa. Obetia Gaudich.
12. (6.) Stigma penicillate. Perianth of the female flowers 3-partite, rarely
4-5-partite or rudimentary, free from the ovary. Embryo with orbicular or ovate cotyledons. Cystoliths linear. Herbs or undershrubs, rarely shrubs; in this case leaves penninerved. Stipules connate. [Tribe PROCRIDEAE.] 13
Stigma filiform, rarely capitate and somewhat hairy, but then shrubs with
3-nerved leaves and perianth shortly toothed and adnate to the ovary.
Perianth of the female flowers 2-4-toothed, entire, or wanting. Embryo with elliptical or oblong cotyledons. Cystoliths usually punctiform.
Mostly woody plants. [Tribe BOEHMERIEAE.] 16
13. Leaves opposite, but sometimes the pairs consisting of unequal leaves.
Herbs. 14
Leaves alternate or subopposite, i.e., one leaf of each pair very small, stipule-like. 15
14. Flowers on a disc- or bell-shaped receptacle.—Species 1. Abyssinia. Lecanthus Wedd.
Flowers in glomerules arranged in panicles.—Species 35. Tropics. Some are used as vegetables or textile plants. (Adicea Rafin.) Pilea Lindl.
15. Flowers on an expanded receptacle. Perianth-segments of the female flowers linear or lanceolate. Herbs. Leaves unequal-sided.—Species
15. Tropics. Elatostema Forst.
Flowers in glomerules or heads without an involucre. Perianth-segments ovate. Shrubs or undershrubs.—Species 3. Tropics. Procris Juss.
16. Female flowers without a perianth. Stigma filiform. Shrubs. Leaves alternate. Flowers in axillary glomerules.—Species 1. Naturalized on the Island of Mauritius. Phenax Wedd.
Female flowers with a perianth. 17
17. Perianth of the female flowers free or almost free from the ovary, dry or membranous in fruit. Stipules free or nearly so. Stigma filiform. 18
Perianth of the female flowers adnate to the ovary, more or less succulent in fruit. Stipules evidently united. Leaves alternate. Shrubs or trees. 19
18. Stigma persistent. Perianth surrounding the fruit neither winged nor ribbed. Leaves toothed.—Species 7. Tropical and South Africa.
Two of them (especially B. nivea Hook. & Arn., ramie or Chinese grasscloth plant) are cultivated as textile plants. Boehmeria Jaqu.
Stigma deciduous. Perianth surrounding the fruit usually winged or ribbed. Leaves usually entire.—Species 10. Tropical and South
Africa. Pouzolzia Gaudich.
19. Stigma filiform, deciduous.—Species 3. Madagascar and Mascarenes. Pipturus Wedd.
Stigma capitate, more or less penicillate.—Species 1. Abyssinia. Debregeasia Gaudich.
ORDER PROTEALES
[FAMILY 55.] PROTEACEAE
Shrubs or trees. Leaves alternate, rarely (Brabeium) whorled. Stipules none. Flowers in heads, spikes, or racemes. Perianth with 4 petaloid, valvate segments, usually surrounded by excrescences of the receptacle. Stamens 4, opposite the perianth-segments. Anthers opening inwards. Ovary superior, 1-celled. Ovule 1, ascending and inverted, more rarely pendulous and straight, very rarely ovules 2. Style simple, with a small stigma. Fruit a one-seeded nut or drupe. Seed exalbuminous.—Genera 13, species 400. Southern and tropical Africa. (Plate 33.)
1. Stamens inserted at the base of the perianth-segments; anthers stalked.
Perianth regular, divided to the base. Flowers unisexual or polygamous.
[Tribe PERSOONIEAE.] 2
Stamens inserted on the middle or the upper part of the perianth-segments; anthers usually sessile. Perianth more or less deeply divided, but rarely to the base. [Tribe PROTEEAE.] 3
2. Receptacle with a short cupular excrescence at the base. Ovule pendulous.
Fruit a drupe. Flowers in fascicles arranged in racemes. Leaves whorled, undivided.—Species 1. South Africa. The fruits are edible and used as a substitute for coffee. Brabeium L.
Receptacle with 4 scale-like excrescences at the base. Flowers in spikes arranged in racemes. Leaves alternate, 2-lobed.—Species 1. Madagascar.
The wood is used for torches, the seeds yield oil. Dilobeia Thouars
3. Flowers unisexual, regular. 4
Flowers hermaphrodite. 5
4. Male flowers in spikes or racemes, female in heads. Bracts narrow.—Species
3. South Africa. Aulax Berg
