| TREATMENT FROM THE JEPSON MANUAL (1993) |
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©Copyright 1993 by the Regents of the University of California
For up-to-date information about California vascular plants, visit the Jepson eFlora. |
AND IS MAINTAINED FOR ARCHIVAL PURPOSES ONLY |
Annual to (soft-wooded) trees, glabrous or stinging-hairy, monoecious or dioecious
Leaves alternate or opposite, generally stipuled, petioled, often with embedded crystals
Inflorescence various, axillary
Flowers generally unisexual, small, greenish; sepals generally 4–5, free to fused; petals 0
Staminate flower: stamens generally 4–5, opposite sepals, in bud incurved, then springing out
Pistillate flower: ovary 1, superior, chamber 1, style 0–1, stigma 1, generally hair-tufted
Fruit: generally achene (drupe)
Genera in family: 50 genera, 700 species: worldwide; some cultivated (Boehmeria ; Pilea , clearweed)
Reference: [Miller 1971 J Arnold Arb 52:40–68]
Wind-pollinated.
Perennial to shrub, not stinging-hairy
Leaves generally opposite, ± ovate, toothed, 3-veined from base; base round to cordate; tip obtuse to acuminate; crystals round
Inflorescence spike- or panicle-like
Staminate flower: sepals 4, ± free; stamens 4
Pistillate flower: sepals 2–4, fused ± to tip, enclosing ovary
Fruit flat to lenticular
Species in genus: ± 50 species: especially tropical, subtropical
Etymology: (G.R. Boehmer, Saxony, 1723–1803)