狭叶荨麻 xia ye qian ma

Urtica dioica var. angustifolia (Fischer ex Hornemann) Ledebour; U. foliosa Blume.

Herbs perennial, dioecious. Rhizomes woody, stoloniferous. Stems branched or simple, 40-150 cm tall; stems, petioles, and both surfaces of leaf blade sparsely hirtellous and armed with stinging hairs. Stipules free, linear, 6-12 mm; petiole short, 0.5-2 cm; leaf blade oblong-lanceolate to ovate-lanceolate, rarely linear or ovate, 4-15 × 1-3.5(-5.5) cm, often herbaceous, 3-veined, lateral basal veins parallel to midvein in middle of blade, with secondary veins 2 or 3 on each side, adaxial surface often rough, base rounded, rarely shallowly cordate, margin coarsely 9-15(-19)-dentate or serrate, teeth tapered or incurved-tipped, ciliate, apex long acuminate or acute; cystoliths often punctiform. Inflorescences paniculate, sometimes with few, short branchlike spikes, 2-8 cm. Male flowers in bud ca. 2 mm, perianth lobes connate 1/2 of length, puberulent. Female flowers: perianth lobes connate at base, dorsal-ventral lobes elliptic-ovate, ca. 1 mm, sparsely setulose or subglabrous, lateral lobes narrowly obovate, 1/2 the length of dorsal ones. Achene brownish gray, ovoid or broadly ovoid, slightly compressed, 0.8-1 mm, smooth or inconspicuously verrucose, invested by persistent perianth lobes. Fl. Jun-Aug, fr. Aug-Oct.

Moist places in forests, thickets, stream banks; 800-2200 m. Hebei, Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning, Nei Mongol, Shandong, Shanxi [Japan, Korea, Mongolia, Russia (Far East, Siberia)].

The species is similar to Urtica dioica in having dioecious plants, paniculate inflorescences, and similar stipule and achene features; however, it differs in having sparser stinging hairs, narrower leaves with a rounded base, and much shorter petioles. The taxa could either be sister species, or U. angustifolia could be an eastern geographical vicariant of U. dioica.