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This genus is accepted, and its native range is Cosmopolitan.
Laportea canadensis

[FTEA]

Urticaceae, I. Friis University of Copenhagen, Denmark. Flora of Tropical East Africa. 1989

Morphology General Habit
Annual or perennial herbs or shrubs, monoecious or dioecious
Morphology Stem
Stems with numerous stinging hairs
Morphology Leaves
Leaves alternate, petiolate, simple, serrate; cystoliths linear or punctiform; stipules intrapetiolar, fused almost to apex
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
Inflorescences unisexual, occasionally with a few flowers of opposite sex intermixed, paniculate or appearing spike-like due to very reduced branches, sometimes with “interrupted spikes” due to some internodes being elongated
sex Male
Male flowers usually pedicellate, 4–5-merous, with rudimentary ovary
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
Female flowers: pedicel sometimes winged, either laterally or on the dorsal and ventral side (as defined by the symmetry of the flower); tepals 4, unequal, lateral pair usually much larger than the median pair, median pair of unequal size, the dorsal one geniculate or not; staminodes absent; ovary asymmetrical, ovoid, laterally compressed; stigma sessile, filiform, or deeply trifid with filiform branches Male flowers usually pedicellate, 4–5-merous, with rudimentary ovary
sex Female
Female flowers: pedicel sometimes winged, either laterally or on the dorsal and ventral side (as defined by the symmetry of the flower); tepals 4, unequal, lateral pair usually much larger than the median pair, median pair of unequal size, the dorsal one geniculate or not; staminodes absent; ovary asymmetrical, ovoid, laterally compressed; stigma sessile, filiform, or deeply trifid with filiform branches
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Achene compressed, often with characteristic sculpturing on sides, consisting of a ring-like ridge enclosing a ± rugose surface, stipitate and shed separately (sect. Laportea) or sessile and shed with the persistent perianth (sect. Fleurya) .

[FZ]

Urticaceae, I. Friis. Flora Zambesiaca 9:6. 1991

Morphology General Habit
Annual or perennial herbs (shrubs outside the Flora Zambesiaca area), monoecious or dioecious with numerous stinging hairs (the hairs sometimes mounted on epidermal protuberances).
Morphology General Cystoliths
Cystoliths linear or punctiform.
Morphology Leaves
Leaves alternate, petiolate, simple, serrate.
Morphology Leaves Stipules
Stipules intrapetiolar, fused almost to the apex.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
Inflorescences mostly unisexual (occasionally a few flowers of opposite sex intermixed), paniculate, sometimes apparently spicate due to reduction of branches, sometimes appearing as interrupted spikes due to elongation of some internodes.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
Female flowers pedicellate, pedicel sometimes winged; tepals 4, unequal, lateral pair usually much larger than the median pair, and median pair of unequal size; staminodes absent; ovary asymmetrical, ovoid, laterally compressed; stigma sessile, filiform, or deeply trifid with filiform branches. Male flowers usually pedicellate, regular, 4–5-merous, stamens equalling tepals in number, rudimentary ovary present.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Achene compressed, often with a characteristic sculpturing on the sides (consisting of an annular ridge enclosing a ± rugose surface), stipitate and shed separately from the persistent perianth (Sect. Laportea), or sessile and shed with the persistent perianth (Sect. Fleurya).

Native to:

Alabama, Aldabra, Andaman Is., Angola, Arkansas, Assam, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Belize, Benin, Bismarck Archipelago, Bolivia, Brazil North, Brazil Northeast, Brazil South, Brazil Southeast, Brazil West-Central, Burkina, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Provinces, Cape Verde, Caroline Is., Central African Repu, Central American Pac, Chad, China North-Central, China South-Central, China Southeast, Christmas I., Cocos (Keeling) Is., Colombia, Congo, Connecticut, Cook Is., Costa Rica, Cuba, Delaware, District of Columbia, Dominican Republic, East Himalaya, Ecuador, El Salvador, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Florida, French Guiana, Gabon, Galápagos, Gambia, Georgia, Ghana, Gilbert Is., Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Gulf of Guinea Is., Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Illinois, India, Indiana, Iowa, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Japan, Jawa, Kansas, Kentucky, Kenya, Korea, Kuril Is., KwaZulu-Natal, Laccadive Is., Laos, Leeward Is., Lesser Sunda Is., Liberia, Line Is., Louisiana, Madagascar, Maine, Malawi, Malaya, Maldives, Mali, Maluku, Manchuria, Manitoba, Marianas, Marshall Is., Maryland, Massachusetts, Mexico Central, Mexico Gulf, Mexico Northeast, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nauru, Nebraska, Nepal, New Brunswick, New Guinea, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Newfoundland, Nicaragua, Nigeria, North Carolina, North Dakota, Northern Provinces, Northern Territory, Nova Scotia, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oman, Ontario, Panamá, Pennsylvania, Peru, Philippines, Phoenix Is., Primorye, Puerto Rico, Queensland, Québec, Rhode I., Rwanda, Réunion, Saskatchewan, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Society Is., Solomon Is., South Carolina, South Dakota, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Sulawesi, Sumatera, Suriname, Swaziland, Taiwan, Tanzania, Tennessee, Thailand, Tibet, Togo, Tokelau-Manihiki, Trinidad-Tobago, Tuamotu, Tubuai Is., Uganda, Venezuela, Venezuelan Antilles, Vermont, Vietnam, Virginia, West Himalaya, West Virginia, Western Australia, Windward Is., Wisconsin, Yemen, Zambia, Zaïre, Zimbabwe

Extinct in:

Mauritius

Introduced into:

Fiji, France, Hawaii, Marquesas, New Caledonia, Niue, Samoa, Santa Cruz Is., Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Wallis-Futuna Is.

Laportea Gaudich. appears in other Kew resources:

First published in Voy. Uranie: 498 (1830)

Accepted by

  • Govaerts, R., Nic Lughadha, E., Black, N., Turner, R. & Paton, A. (2021). The World Checklist of Vascular Plants, a continuously updated resource for exploring global plant diversity. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-021-00997-6 Scientific Data 8: 215.

Literature

Flora of West Tropical Africa

  • —F.T.A. 6, 2: 252.

Flora Zambesiaca

  • Chew in Gard. Bull., Singapore 25: 111–178 (1969) nom. conserv.
  • in Freyc., Voy. Monde, Bot.: 498 (1830).

Flora of Tropical East Africa

  • Chew in Gard. Bull., Singapore 21: 200 (1965)
  • Chew in Gard. Bull., Singapore 25: 111 (1969), nom. conserv.
  • Engl. in E. & P. Pf. 3(1): 106 (1888)
  • G.F.P. 2: 183 (1967)
  • G.P. 3: 383 (1880)
  • in Freyc., Voy. Monde, Bot.: 498 (1830)

Flora Zambesiaca
Flora Zambesiaca
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

Flora of Tropical East Africa
Flora of Tropical East Africa
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

Kew Backbone Distributions
The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families 2021. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/
© Copyright 2017 World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

Kew Names and Taxonomic Backbone
The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families 2021. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/
© Copyright 2017 International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0