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©Copyright 1993 by the Regents of the University of California
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URTICACEAE

NETTLE FAMILY

Dennis W. Woodland

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.

PARIETARIA

PELLITORY

Annual or perennial herb, not stinging-hairy
Leaves alternate, 1–8 cm, lanceolate to round, entire; stipules 0; crystals round
Inflorescence head-, spike-, or panicle-like, generally few-flowered; flowers subtended by involucre of 1–3 bracts
Flower: sepals 4, fused below
Staminate flower: stamens 4
Fruit ovoid, shiny
Species in genus: 20–30 species: worldwide
Etymology: (Latin: wall, from habitat of some)
Reference: [Hinton 1969 Sida 3:293–297]

Native

P. pensylvanica Willd.

Annual < 6 dm, decumbent to erect
Leaf: blade 7–90 mm, linear-lanceolate to ovate, base tapered to obtuse, tip generally acuminate to long-tapered, lowest veins generally from midrib
Flower: calyx lobes ± erect, 1.5–2 mm, acute, dark reddish brown
Fruit hidden between calyx lobes or not, 0.9–1.5 mm, 0.5–1 mm wide, ovate, ± (reddish) brown, tip obtuse
Chromosomes: 2n=16
Ecology: Dry ledges, slopes, shady waste areas
Elevation: < 2500 m.
Bioregional distribution: California Floristic Province, Sonoran Desert
Distribution outside California: US
Flowering time: Mar–Jul

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