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Urtica sandwicensis

Wedd. (1856)

This name is accepted

Kingdom: Viridiplantae Phylum: Magnoliophyta Class/Clade: Eudicot-Rosids Order: Rosales Family: Urticaceae Genus: Urtica

hesperocnide

Description

Key Characters:

Growth Form: Erect annual herbs 20–60 cm tall.

Stems: Slender, usually branched, hispid throughout with stiff, erect, stinging hairs, also short–hirtellous, more densely so when young, watery sap.

Roots:

Leaves: Leaves simple. Opposite. Blades lanceolate to oblong–lanceolate, 1.5–7 cm long, 0.9–2.5 cm wide. Terminal tooth oblong with rounded apex. Base truncate to very broadly cuneate. Surfaces with stinging hairs. Margins very coarsely serrate–incised. 3–5 veined. Petioles 0.8–2.5 cm long. Stipules minute, oblong, lateral, distinct.

Flowers: Flowers in axillary, sessile, cymose glomerules, both sexes intermixed; bracts absent. Flowers unisexual, in clusters 0.2–0.5 cm long, sexes mixed but predominantly pistillate, actinomorphic. Calyx of staminate flowers 4-lobed, the lobes equal, imbricate, depressed in bud, ca. 0.5–0.6 mm long, very sparsely pubescent with short, hooked hairs; pistillate Calyx ca. 1 mm long, swelling slightly in fruit, pubescent with short, hooked hairs, evenly short–hispid, apex nearly closed. Corolla (petals) absent. Stamens 4 in staminate flowers; filaments incurved in bud, elastically reflexed when pollen is shed; anthers reniform, dithecal, opening by longitudinal slits. Ovary superior (pistillate flowers), pseudomonomerous, straight, 1-celled; ovule 1, basal; style 1; stigma sessile, capitate–penicillate, persistent. Staminate calyx ovary vestigial and sterile.

Fruit: Achenes ovoid; compressed; ca. 1.1 mm long. Seeds 1 per achene.

Ploidy:

Habitat: Subalpine woodland or alpine areas.

Elevation Range: 1,780–2,600 m.

Historical Distribution

Uses and Culture

USES

Natural History

Statewide Status

Endemic

Island Status

Hawai'i Endemic

Dispersal Agents


Pollinators

Notes

  • Description digitized by Tiffany Flood
  • Description digitized from the Manual of the Flowering Plants of Hawaii

Bibliography

Name Published In: Arch. Mus. Hist. Nat. 9: 67 (1856)

Other References

Wagner et al. 1990:1301 (H [as Hesperocnide sandwicensis]); Kim et al. 2015:70 (Syn. Hesperocnide = Urtica)

Occurrences

SNo. Scientific Name Locality Habitat Basis of Record Description Recorded By Record Number Island Source Date
1 Urtica sandwicensis Mauna Kea; Central Plateau Preserved_Specimen Hawaii BISH
2 Urtica sandwicensis Humuula, above camp by Hookomo Preserved_Specimen Neal, M.C. 748 Hawaii BISH 1935-08-08
3 Urtica sandwicensis Mauna Kea; Laiaha Preserved_Specimen Hillebrand, W.B. Hawaii BISH 1872-12-01
4 Urtica sandwicensis Parker Ranch Preserved_Specimen Rock, J.F.C. Hawaii BISH 1909-06-01
5 Urtica sandwicensis Hamakua District; W slopes of Puu Ahumoa Occasional to locally common under Myoporum & other trees in open forest of Sophora & Myoporum. Preserved_Specimen Herb to 40 cm high. Stems & foliage w/purplish tint. Nagata, K.M. 2442 Hawaii BISH 1982-04-06
6 Urtica sandwicensis Near upper end of Judd Road In a cove. Preserved_Specimen Forbes, C.N. 269 Hawaii BISH 1911-06-27
7 Urtica sandwicensis N. Kona District. Keauhou 2 Ahu; Tr 56 (top); Saddle between Muana Loa & Hualalai in small kipuka in 1859 lave flow Dry `ohi`a forest w/mixed native shrub & mixed grass understory. Growing in crack in pahoehoe lava. Preserved_Specimen 0.3 m tall. Jacobi, J.D. 1185 Hawaii BISH 1978-08-10
8 Urtica sandwicensis unknown Preserved_Specimen Mann, H. BISH 1864-01-01
9 Urtica sandwicensis Hamakua District; Puu Ahumoao, inner crater walls Occasional to locally common, w/Stellaria & Galinsoga under Myoporum. Preserved_Specimen Herb to 40 cm high; foliage & stems w/purple tint. Nagata, K.M. 2437 Hawaii BISH 1982-04-06
10 Urtica sandwicensis N. Kona District. Keauhou 2 Ahu; Tr 62; W slope of Muana Loa in small kipuka mauka of road, drop off from Tr62 Dry mamane-mixed native trees community w/exotic grass-native shrub understory. Shaded exposure, 2 patches in kipuka; growing on`a`a lava substrate under Santalum. Preserved_Specimen Terrestrial rooting. Uncommon. Jacobi, J.D. 1034 Hawaii BISH 1978-06-30
11 Urtica sandwicensis Mauna Kea, SW slope above Pohakuloa, below end of Skyline Drive, transect 106 (Palila Inventory) Closed to open mamane forest. Growing next to large boulder. Slope of 30 degrees plus. Preserved_Specimen Four erect shoots to 11 tall with stiff white hairs on stems. Light rosy purple stems, petioles, and veins in leaves. Young inflorescences present. Davis, J. 700 Hawaii BISH 1982-02-25
12 Urtica sandwicensis Pohakuloa ash, pahoehoe; Myoporum sandwicense, Sophora chrysophylla, Dodonaea viscosa Preserved_Specimen Tierney 93.39 Hawaii BISH
13 Urtica sandwicensis Mauna Kea; above Kaohe Game Management Area, just outside large fenced exclosure mauka of Puu Laau Open mamane forest w/grass & Stenogyne diffusa var. glabra, in shade of mamane. Not far from transect 102, Stns 15 & 16 Palila Inventory). Preserved_Specimen All stems purple. Seedlings also present. At least 4 plants to 1.5 ft tall w/arching stems, area 3 x 4 ft. Davis, J. 702 Hawaii BISH 1982-02-26
14 Urtica sandwicensis District of Hamakua. Puu Ahumoa Growing with Stellaria and Galinsoga under Myoporum. Inner crater walls. Preserved_Specimen Herb to 40cm ht. Foliage and stems with purple tint. Nagata, K.M. 2437 Hawaii BISH 1982-04-06
15 Urtica sandwicensis Mauna Kea, near Puu Laau Cabin Growing w/Hesperocnide under a Sophora tree in sandalwood enclosure. Preserved_Specimen 0.3 m tall. Herbst, D.R. 5942 Hawaii BISH 1977-07-06
16 Urtica sandwicensis Puu Mali, Mauna Kea Subalpine, lava substrate, in shaded areas. Associated vegetation: Chamaesyce olowaluana. Preserved_Specimen Sprawling vine in shaded areas. Starr, F. 407232 Hawaii BISH 2004-07-23
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