Urtica frutescens Thunberg in Murray, Syst. Veg., ed. 14, 851. 1784; Boehmeria frutescens (Thunberg) Thunberg; B. fruticosa Gaudichaud-Beaupré; Morocarpus microcephalus Bentham; Oreocnide fruticosa (Gaudichaud-Beaupré) Handel-Mazzetti; Villebrunea frutescens (Thunberg) Blume; V. frutescens var. hirsuta Pampanini; V. fruticosa (Gaudichaud-Beaupré) Nakai; V. microcephala (Bentham) Nakai.

Shrubs. Leaf blade ovate to narrowly obovate, sparsely strigillose adaxially, often gray-white tomentose abaxially. Female inflorescences sessile. Fl. Feb-Apr, fr. Jun-Oct.

Margins of mixed forests, open thickets, roadsides; 300-1500 m. S Anhui, Fujian, SE Gansu, Guangdong, Guangxi, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, S Shaanxi, Sichuan, SE Yunnan [Cambodia, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam].