Field and Woodland Plants

by William S. Furneaux

Passing to the Stinging Nettles (order Urticaceæ), we have to deal with three herbs that are remarkable for the stinging hairs which clothe both leaves and stem. The leaves of all are opposite, and the flowers imperfect. The male flowers have four stamens, and a small, green perianth of four segments; while the females consist of an ovary with a tufted stigma, surrounded by a perianth of four segments the two inner of which are larger, or of two segments only. The fruit is a small, flattened nut, enclosed in the persistent perianth. The distinguishing characters of the three species are as follows:

1. The Small Nettle (Urtica urens).—An erect herb, from one to two feet high, with leaves and stem smooth with the exception of the stiff, stinging hairs. The leaves are thin, elliptical, deeply and regularly toothed; and the flowers are in unbranched axillary spikes which are shorter than the petioles, the males and females being intermixed. This is a common species, flowering from June to September.

2. The Great Nettle (U. dioica).—A dark green herb, from one to four feet high, more or less clothed with soft downy hairs in addition to the stiff, stinging ones. The lower leaves are ovate or cordate, coarsely toothed; and the upper ones narrower. The spikes of flowers are branched, longer than the petioles, in the axils of the leaves. The flowers are very similar to those of the Small Nettle, but the males and females are usually on separate plants. This is a very common species, flowering from June to September.

Canary Grass.

3. The Roman Nettle (U. pilulifera).—A coarse, erect plant, from one to two feet high, with stinging hairs more powerful than those of the other species. The leaves are ovate or cordate, deeply and regularly toothed. The male flowers are in clusters along the peduncles, which are often as long as the leaves; and the females are in globular heads at the top of stalks from half an inch to an inch in length. The heads of fruits are about a third of an inch in diameter, thickly covered with stinging hairs. This plant flowers from June to September. It is not so abundant as the other nettles, and is found principally in the neighbourhood of villages, especially in the eastern counties of England.

Although the Hop (Humulus Lupulus) does not sting, the whole plant is rough with stiff hairs resembling those of the nettles, and it is placed in the same order. It is a climber, and clings to the hedgerow shrubs by twining its long stems, which always turn in the same direction as the sun. Its leaves are opposite, stalked, broadly heart-shaped in general form, but cut into three or five sharply-toothed lobes. The flowers, like those of the nettles, are imperfect, and the male and female blossoms grow on separate plants. The former are in lax panicles, in the axils of the upper leaves: they are small, of a yellowish green colour, each consisting of five stamens surrounded by a perianth of five segments. The females are arranged in rounded heads or spikes on short stalks in the axils of the leaves. The heads are made up of a number of closely-placed bracts, each with two little flowers at its base; and each flower consists of an ovary, enclosed in a scale, with two long, narrow stigmas. After fertilisation the scales of the head grow very large, forming very conspicuous 'cones' in which the little fruits lie concealed. The Hop flowers from July to September, and is common in hedgerows and thickets.

Of the several wayside Grasses we have space for the mention of but one species—the interesting Canary Grass (Phalaris canariensis). It is a native of South Europe, introduced into this country and cultivated for its seed (canary seed), but is now often seen growing wild in waste places. It is represented on p. [209].

Plate IV.