Boehmeria

Boehmeria
Boehmeria grandis
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Rosales
Family: Urticaceae
Tribe: Boehmerieae
Genus: Boehmeria
Jacq.
Type species
Boehmeria ramiflora
Jacq. 1760
Species

47 species, see text

Synonyms[1]
  • Duretia Gaudich. 1830 nom. nud.
  • Ramium Kuntze 1891 nom. illeg.
  • Splitbergera Miq. 1840

Boehmeria is a genus of 47 species of flowering plants in the nettle family Urticaceae. Of the species, 33 are indigenous to the Old World and 14 to the New World; no species is indigenous to both the Old and New Worlds. The species include herbaceous perennials, shrubs and small trees. Although related to the similar-looking species of the stinging nettles of genus Urtica, species of Boehmeria do not have stinging hairs. Because of the similarity in appearance, some species are commonly called "false nettles".

This genus is named in honor of the German botanist, Georg Rudolf Boehmer.[2]

Fossil record

14 fossil fruits of †Boehmeria sibirica have been extracted from borehole samples of the Middle Miocene fresh water deposits in Nowy Sacz Basin, West Carpathians, Poland.[3]

Cultivation and uses

One species, ramie (Boehmeria nivea) is an important fibre crop. Some are also used as ornamental plants.

Boehmeria species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including Bedellia boehmeriella, which feeds exclusively on B. grandis.

Species

As of January 2024, Plants of the World Online accepted the species listed below.[4]

New World species

The following species are found in the New World:[4][1]

Old World species

The following species are found in the Old World:[4][5][6][7]

Synonyms

The following names have been synonymized:

References

  1. ^ a b Wilmot-Dear CM, Friis I (1996). The New World species of Boehmeria and Pouzolzia (Urticaceae, tribus Boehmerieae). A taxonomic revision. Opera Botanica. Vol. 129. Copenhagen, Denmark: Council for Nordic Publications in Botany. pp. 1–103. ISBN 87-88702-37-5.
  2. ^ Stearn, William (2002). Stearn's Dictionary of Plant Names for Gardeners. London: Cassell. ISBN 978-0-304-36469-5.
  3. ^ Łańcucka-Środoniowa M.: Macroscopic plant remains from the freshwater Miocene of the Nowy Sącz Basin (West Carpathians, Poland) [Szczątki makroskopowe roślin z miocenu słodkowodnego Kotliny Sądeckiej (Karpaty Zachodnie, Polska)]. Acta Palaeobotanica 1979 20 (1): 3-117.
  4. ^ a b c "Boehmeria Jacq". Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 2024-01-13.
  5. ^ Wilmot-Dear, C.M.; Friis, I (2013). "The Old World species of Boehmeria (Urticaceae, tribus Boehmerieae). A taxonomic revision" (PDF). Blumea. 58 (2): 85–216. doi:10.3767/000651913X674116.
  6. ^ Wilmot-Dear, C.M.; Friis, I; Govaerts, R.H.A. (2014). "Nomenclatural corrections to the taxonomic revision of The Old World species of Boehmeria (Urticaceae, tribus Boehmerieae) by Wilmot-Dear & Friis (2013)" (PDF). Blumea. 59 (2): 95–97. doi:10.3767/000651914X684691.
  7. ^ Wilmot-Dear CM, Friis I, Thomas Z (2010). "New Species in Old World Boehmeria (Urticaceae)". Edinburgh Journal of Botany. 67 (3): 431–450. doi:10.1017/S0960428610000144.
Wikisource has the text of the 1905 New International Encyclopedia article "Bœhmeria".