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Botanical Family · Rosales

Urticaceae

Nettle family

20 speciesOrder Rosales8+ well-known plants

Herbs and shrubs often with stinging hairs. Wind-pollinated. Includes stinging nettle, ramie (boehmeria), and Boehmeria (rhea fibre).

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Representative URTICACEAE specimen
Representative specimen · Urticaceae
Key pattern

Leaves often armed with stinging hairs that inject an irritant on contact; tiny, petal-less, wind-pollinated flowers are unisexual and cluster in dense axillary heads or catkins, ripening into a small dry achene.

Stinging hairs act like microscopic hypodermic needles, injecting formic acid and histamine on touch; several genera (ramie, rhea) are grown instead for their exceptionally strong bast fibre.

Identify the species

Which Urticaceae species is this?

Answer what you can see and narrow it down to a single Urticaceae species.

Click a node to trace its path · pinch or scroll to zoom · drag to pan
Leaf SurfaceWhat does the leaf surface feel or look like?
Glabrous (smooth, hairless)
Hirsute (coarsely hairy)
Pubescent (softly hairy)
HabitWhat is the plant's growth habit?
Herb
Tree
HabitWhat is the plant's growth habit?
Herb
Shrub
Tree

How to recognise the Urticaceae family

  • 01

    Leaf arrangement: alternate/opposite

  • 02

    Leaf type: simple

  • 03

    Growth forms: herb/shrub/tree

  • 04

    Inflorescence: cymose/catkin

  • 05

    Fruit: achene

Typical leaf characters

Characters typical of the family — individual species can vary.

Typical flower & fruit

  • Flower symmetryVariable
  • InflorescenceVariable
  • FruitAchene

Typical of the family — flowering plants only; species can vary.

Notable members

Malabar Tree NettleBoehmeria glomeruliferaWild RheaDebregeasia longifoliaMousa NettleDendrocnide sinuataLarge Lineolate ElatostemaElatostema lineolatumBichchhooGirardinia diversifoliaHawaii WoodnettleLaportea interruptaStalked DischeadLecanthus peduncularisAluminium PlantPilea cadierei

All 20 species in URTICACEAE

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