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Common name: Nettle Family.
Number of genera 49. Number of species 1050.
Angiosperm. Magnoliopsida.
Disseminule an intact or entire fruit.
Fruits
Pistil(s) simple; 1; 1-pistillate. Fruit pericarpium, or anthocarp; simple, or compound; achene (achene & perianth often disperse as a unit of most authors, not Spjut); achenosum (Spjut 4 families: Platanaceae, Rubiaceae, Sparganiaceae, Urticaceae); simple, or compound; acrosarcum, or diclesium, or glans; sorosus, or glandosum (Spjut Fig. 33E & 2 families: Nyctaginaceae, Urticaceae); without persistent central column; with styles(s); at apex; not within accessory organ(s), or within accessory organ(s); within perianth (becomes fleshy & stongly inflated or not), or tepals (Utrica where inner tepals enlarge & outer tepals remaining small), or calyx, or hypanthium; accrescent; persistent; soft calyx; with hypanthium achenes; 1-seeded; 1-seeded; 1-carpellate; not sulcate; in transection flat, or compressed; apex beaked; apex short beaked; wall thin walled; indehiscent. Epicarp black, or brown (all shades); shiny, or dull; durable; chartaceous; glabrous (without hairs), or not glabrous (with hairs); hairs short; hairs not glandular; without armature; smooth, or not smooth; papillose (or covered with prominent bosses for Pilea); without wing(s); without apical respiratory hole. Mesocarp present. Endocarp present, or absent; not separating from exocarp; thin, or hard; not splitting into 1-seeded pyrenes; stone unilocular; smooth; without wing; without operculum; without secretory cavities; without mechanism for seedling escape; without longitudinal ridges. Funiculus short; short without seed bearing hooks (retinacula); not persisting in fruit after seed shed.
Seeds
Aril absent. Seed larger than minute; ovate; in transection compressed; not bowl shaped; not nutlike; without winglike beak; without caudate appendage(s); at maturity with food reserves, or without food reserves (Elatostema), or without apparent food reserves; with endosperm; without canavanine. Sarcotesta absent. Testa reduced present, or absent; vestigial (or reduced); without embryo surrounded and capped by viscid tissue. Endosperm development nuclear; scant, or copious (rarely); fleshy; opaque (at least); smooth; with starch, or without starch; with oils; without fatty acid containing cyclopropene; without apical lobes; without chlorophyll; without isodiametric faceted surface; without odor.
Embryo differentiated from food reserve; well developed; 1 per seed; nearly filling testa (trace or scanty food reserve), or completely filling testa (no food reserve); 0.9–1 times the length of food reserve; at one end of seed not extending into a depression or cup; axile and centric; foliate; with spatulate cotyledons; straight; oblique to seed length; embedded in endosperm; with cotyledons abruptly connected to hypocotyl-radicle; without coleorhiza; without simmondsin; without stomata; not green; with 2 or more cotyledons. Cotyledons 2; well developed; 0.5–0.7 times length of embryo; somewhat to significantly wider than hypocotyl-radicle; 2–4 times wider than hypocotyl-radicle; not concealing hypocotyl-radicle; foliaceous; thin; flat; smooth; with apices entire; with margins separate; basally entire; equal in size; not punctate dotted. Hypocotyl-radicle moderately developed to well developed; straight; not thickened.
Distribution
Cosmopolitan. New World, Old World. North America, Middle America, South America, Europe, Africa, Asia Major, Asia Minor, southeastern Asia, Australia, Oceania.
Notes
Spjut's glandosum (a fruit type) covers the compound fruit of aggregated fruitlets in which the bulk of the fruit is formed by accrescent peduncle, recepacle, or involucre. His example is Procris laevigata Blume but does this fruit meet his definition? Friis & Wilmot-Dear (1988): "Fruits are achenes with external organs of the perianth, pedicel or inflorescence, which at maturity form wings (accrescent perianth) or involucral bracts, or fleshy, accrescent perianth. Urtica "dispersed without a perianth". Laportea "dry unaltered perianth". Obelia "winged". Urera "accrescent fleshy perianth". Boehmerieae & Parietarieae "dry fleshy accrecent tubular perianth". Forsshaolae "persistent involucre". Achene and perianth occasionally disperse together.
Weed information
No USA noxious weeds.
Listed seeds
ASOA listed seeds, ISTA listed seeds.
ASOA listed seeds: -- Hesperocnide sandwicensis (Wedd.) Wedd. -- Urtica dioica L. -- Urtica L. spp. -- Last updated September 2008.
ISTA listed seeds: -- Boehmeria nivea (L.) Gaudich. -- Elatostema monandrum (D. Don) H. Hara-- Elatostema surculosum Wight = Elatostema monandrum (D. Don) H. Hara-- Urtica dioica L. -- Urtica urens L.w -- Symbols: aagricultural and vegetable seeds (Table 2A Part 1); ttree and shrub species (Table 2A Part 2); fflower, spice, herb, and medicinal seeds (Table 2A Part 3); wweed seeds. -- Last updated September 2008.
Accepted genera
Aboriella Bennet -- Achudemia Blume -- Archiboehmeria C. J. Chen -- Astrothalamus C. B. Rob. -- Australina Gaudich. -- Boehmeria Jacq. -- Chamabainia Wight -- Cypholophus Wedd. -- Debregeasia Gaudich. -- Dendrocnide Miq. -- Didymodoxa E. Mey. ex Wedd. -- Discocnide Chew -- Droguetia Gaudich. -- Elatostema J. R. Forst. & G. Forst., nom. cons. -- Forsskaolea L. -- Gesnouinia Gaudich. -- Gibbsia Rendle -- Girardinia Gaudich. -- Gyrotaenia Griseb. -- Hemistylus Benth. -- Hesperocnide Torr. -- Hyrtanandra Miq. -- Laportea Gaudich., nom. cons. -- Lecanthus Wedd. -- Leucosyke Zoll. & Moritzi -- Maoutia Wedd. -- Meniscogyne Gagnep. -- Myriocarpa Benth. -- Nanocnide Blume -- Neodistemon Babu & A. N. Henry -- Neraudia Gaudich. -- Nothocnide Blume -- Obetia Gaudich. -- Oreocnide Miq. -- Parietaria L. -- Pellionia Gaudich., nom. cons. -- Petelotiella Gagnep. -- Phenax Wedd. -- Pilea Lindl., nom. cons. -- Pipturus Wedd. -- Pouzolzia Gaudich. -- Procris Comm. ex Juss. -- Rousselia Gaudich. -- Sarcochlamys Gaudich. -- Sarcopilea Urb. -- Soleirolia Gaudich. -- Touchardia Gaudich. -- Urera Gaudich. -- Urtica L.
References specific to this family
Cronquist page 199. Miller, N.G. 1971. The genera of the Urticaceae in the southeastern United States. J. Arnold Arbor. 52:40–68; Friis, I. & C.M. Wilmot-Dear. 1988. A revision of the tribe Forsskaoleae (Urticaceae). Nord. J. Bot. 8:25–59; Friis, I. 1989. The Urticaceae: a systematic review. In: P.R. Crane & S. Blackmore, eds., Evolution, Systematics, and Fossil History of the Hamamelidae, vol. 2: 'Higher' Hamamelidae, pp. 285–308. Clarendon Press, Oxford.
General references
Corner, E.J.H. 1976. The seeds of Dicots, esp. vol. 2. Cambridge University Press, New York, Cronquist, A. 1981. An integrated system of classification of flowering plants, 1,262 p. Columbia University Press, New York, Gaertner, J. 1788–1805. De fructibus et seminibus plantarum. The Author, Stuttgart, Goldberg, A. 1986 (dicots) and 1989 (monocots). Classification, evolution, and phylogeny of the familes of Dicotyledons. Smithsonian Contr. Bot. 58 for dicots (314 pp.) and 71 for monocots (74 pp.). [Goldberg's illustrations are reproduced from older publications and these should be consulted], Gunn, C.R. and C.A. Ritchie. 1988. Identification of disseminules listed in the Federal Noxious Weed Act. Techn. Bull. U.S.D.A. 1719:1–313, Gunn, C.R., J.H. Wiersema, C.A. Ritchie, and J.H. Kirkbride, Jr. 1992 and amendments. Families and genera of Spermatophytes recognized by the Agricultural Research Service. Techn. Bull. U.S.D.A. 1796:1–500, Mabberley, D.J. 1987. The plant-book, 706 p. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, Martin, A.C. 1946. The comparative internal morphology of seeds. Amer. Midl. Naturalist 36:513–660, Spjut, R.W. 1994. A systematic treatment of fruit types. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 70:1–182, Wood, C.E., Jr. 1974. A student's atlas of flowering plants: Some dicotyledons of eastern North America, 120 pp. Harper and Row, New York.
Illustrations
Acceptable fruit and no seed illustrations. Disseminule illustration(s): fruit, or embryo. Fruit illustration(s): Miller (1971), Gunn & Ritchie, Wood, Jr., Friis & Wilmot-Dear (1988). Embryo illustration(s): Miller (1971), Gunn & Ritchie, Martin, Wood, Jr.
• Fruit. 1 of 11. Boehmeria cylindrica (L.) Sw.: fruiting "head". • Seed. 2 of 11. Boehmeria cylindrica (L.) Sw.: seeds. • Fruit. 4 of 11. Forskohlea angustifolia Retz.: fruits with calyx. • Seed. 5 of 11. Forskohlea angustifolia Retz.: fruits. • Fruit. 6 of 11. Parietaria pensylvanica Muhl. ex Willd.: fruits with calyx. • Fruit. 7 of 11. Parietaria pensylvanica Muhl. ex Willd.: fruits. • Seed. 8 of 11. Parietaria pensylvanica Muhl. ex Willd.: seeds. • Seed. 9 of 11. Pilea pumila (L.) A. Gray: fruits. • Seed. 10 of 11. Urtica pilulifera L.: seeds. • Embryo. 11 of 11. Didymodoxa caffra (Thunb.) Friis & Wilmot-Dean: embryo.
We advise against extracting comparative information from the descriptions. This is much more easily achieved using the DELTA data files or the interactive key, which allows access to the character list, illustrations, full and partial descriptions, diagnostic descriptions, differences and similarities between taxa, lists of taxa exhibiting or lacking specified attributes, and distributions of character states within any set of taxa. See also Guidelines for using data taken from Web publications.
Cite this publication as: ‘J.H. Kirkbride, Jr., C.R. Gunn, and M.J. Dallwitz. 2000 onwards. Family guide for fruits and seeds: descriptions, illustrations, identification, and information retrieval. Version: 12th April 2021. delta-intkey.com’.
