Common Name: NETTLE FAMILY Habit: Annual, perennial herb [to shrub, soft-wooded tree], hairs stinging and not [glabrous]; monoecious or dioecious; wind-pollinated. Leaf: alternate or opposite, generally stipuled, petioled, blade often with translucent, raised dots due to crystals in epidermal cells. Inflorescence: axillary, 1-flowered or head-, raceme-, or panicle-like. Flower: generally unisexual, small, +- green; sepals generally 4--5, free to fused; petals 0. Staminate Flower: stamens generally 4--5, opposite sepals, incurved in bud, reflexing suddenly when flower opens. Pistillate Flower: ovary 1, superior, chamber 1, style 0--1, stigma 1, generally hair-tufted. Fruit: generally achene. Genera In Family: 50 genera, 700 species: worldwide; some cultivated (Boehmeria, ramie; Pilea, clearweed). eFlora Treatment Author: Robert E. Preston & Dennis W. Woodland Scientific Editor: Thomas J. Rosatti.
Habit: Perennial herb 5--30 dm, from rhizome, +- erect, stinging hairs few to many, non-stinging 0 to dense, generally shorter. Leaf: blade 6--20 cm, narrow-lanceolate to wide-ovate, base tapered to cordate. Inflorescence: spike-, raceme-, or panicle-like, 1--7 cm, generally > petiole, of staminate or pistillate flowers. Fruit: ovate. Note:Urtica dioica subsp. dioica dioecious, native to Eurasia; naturalized in North America; report from California in FNANM based on an unconfirmed collection.
Urtica dioica L. subsp. holosericea (Nutt.) Thorne
NATIVE Habit: Generally monoecious. Stem: 10--30 dm. Leaf: narrow-lanceolate to wide-ovate. Chromosomes: 2n=26. Ecology: Meadows, seeps, springs, margins of marshes, streams, lakes, moist areas in chaparral, coastal scrub; Elevation: < 3370 m. Bioregional Distribution: CA-FP (exc but expected NCo, SNF), GB, DMoj (uncommon); Distribution Outside California: western United States, northern Mexico. Flowering Time: Jun--Sep Note: Plants in shade tend to have wider leaves, fewer hairs, so approach Urtica dioica subsp. gracilis. This name is a later homonym and therefore illegitimate, so that a new combination in Urtica dioica at the rank of subsp. needs to be made. Synonyms: Urtica holosericea Nutt. Jepson eFlora Author: Robert E. Preston & Dennis W. Woodland Index of California Plant Names (ICPN; linked via the Jepson Online Interchange) Previous taxon: Urtica dioica subsp. gracilis Next taxon: Urtica urens
Botanical illustration including Urtica dioica subsp. holosericea
Citation for this treatment: Robert E. Preston & Dennis W. Woodland 2012, Urtica dioica subsp. holosericea, in Jepson Flora Project (eds.) Jepson eFlora, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=53303, accessed on February 07, 2025.
Citation for the whole project: Jepson Flora Project (eds.) 2025, Jepson eFlora, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/, accessed on February 07, 2025.
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