False nettle (Boehmeria cylindrica)

False nettle (Boehmeria cylindrica) is a species of plant in the Urticaceae family, a herb or small shrub, up to 160 cm tall, usually monoecious but rarely dioecious. The leaves are paired or alternate, and the inflorescence is a spikelet with a cluster of small bracts at the tip.

B. cylindrica generally grows to a height of 50-100 cm. Spine-like hairs form in the leaf axils. The leaves are oval and up to 10 cm long and 4 cm wide.

The flowers are green or greenish-white and emerge from the upper leaf axils. Male and female flowers usually grow on separate plants. Male flowers are more numerous among the spikes in clusters. Female flowers are less evenly distributed along the spikes.

The small, oval seeds are covered with small, hook-like hairs. Ripe seeds are dark brown. The inflorescence resembles a spike and is up to 3 cm long.

This species can be found in moist to mesic deciduous forest habitats, growing abundantly along streambanks, floodplains, and lowlands. B. cylindrica is wind-pollinated, so the flowers do not attract many insects.

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Rosales
Family: Urticaceae
Genus: Boehmeria
Species:Boehmeria cylindrica
Subspecies: Boehmeria cylindrica ssp. cylindrica, Boehmeria cylindrica ssp. drummondiana

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