''Boehmeria'' is a
genus
Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...
of 47
species
A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...
of
flowering plant
Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...
s in the nettle family
Urticaceae. Of the species, 33 are indigenous to the
Old World
The "Old World" () is a term for Afro-Eurasia coined by Europeans after 1493, when they became aware of the existence of the Americas. It is used to contrast the continents of Africa, Europe, and Asia in the Eastern Hemisphere, previously ...
and 14 to the
New World
The term "New World" is used to describe the majority of lands of Earth's Western Hemisphere, particularly the Americas, and sometimes Oceania."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: ...
; no species is indigenous to both the Old and New Worlds. The species include
herbaceous
Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials.
Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous"
The fourth edition of ...
perennial
In horticulture, the term perennial ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the year") is used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. It has thus been defined as a plant that lives more than 2 years. The term is also ...
s,
shrub
A shrub or bush is a small to medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees by their multiple ...
s and small
tree
In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, e.g., including only woody plants with secondary growth, only ...
s. Although related to the similar-looking species of the stinging nettles of genus ''
Urtica
''Urtica'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Urticaceae. Many species have stinging hairs and may be called nettles or stinging nettles (the latter name applying particularly to ''Urtica dioica, U. dioica''). The generic name ''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.
Fossil record
14
fossil
A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserve ...
fruits of †''Boehmeria sibirica'' have been extracted from
borehole samples of the
Middle Miocene
The Middle Miocene is a sub-epoch of the Miocene epoch (geology), epoch made up of two Stage (stratigraphy), stages: the Langhian and Serravallian stages. The Middle Miocene is preceded by the Early Miocene.
The sub-epoch lasted from 15.97 ± 0. ...
fresh water deposits in
Nowy Sacz Basin,
West Carpathians,
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
.
Cultivation and uses
One species,
ramie
Ramie (pronounced: , ; from Malay ), ''Boehmeria nivea'', is a flowering plant in the nettle family Urticaceae, native to eastern Asia. It is an herbaceous perennial growing to tall; (''Boehmeria nivea'') is an important
fibre crop
A crop is a plant that can be grown and harvested extensively for profit or subsistence. In other words, a crop is a plant or plant product that is grown for a specific purpose such as food, Fiber, fibre, or fuel.
When plants of the same spe ...
. Some are also used as
ornamental plant
Ornamental plants or ''garden plants'' are plants that are primarily grown for their beauty but also for qualities such as scent or how they shape physical space. Many flowering plants and garden varieties tend to be specially bred cultivars th ...
s.
''Boehmeria'' species are used as food plants by the
larva
A larva (; : larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into their next life stage. Animals with indirect development such as insects, some arachnids, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase ...
e of some
Lepidoptera
Lepidoptera ( ) or lepidopterans is an order (biology), order of winged insects which includes butterflies and moths. About 180,000 species of the Lepidoptera have been described, representing 10% of the total described species of living organ ...
species including ''
Bedellia boehmeriella'', which feeds exclusively on ''B. grandis''.
Species
,
Plants of the World Online
Plants of the World Online (POWO) is an online taxonomic database published by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
History
Following the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew launched Plants of the World Online i ...
accepted the species listed below.
New World species
The following species are found in the New World:
Old World species
The following species are found in the Old World:Boehmeria multiflora
''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 h ...
'' C.B.Rob.
*'' Boehmeria nakashimae'' Yahara
*'' Boehmeria nivea'' (L.) Gaudich.
*'' Boehmeria ourantha'' Miq.
*'' Boehmeria penduliflora'' Wedd. ex D.G.Long
*'' Boehmeria pilosiuscula'' (Blume) Hassk.
*'' Boehmeria platanifolia'' (Franch. & Sav.) C.H.Wright
*'' Boehmeria polystachya'' Wedd.
*'' Boehmeria rugosissima'' (Reinw. ex Blume) Miq.
*'' Boehmeria siamensis'' Craib
*'' Boehmeria sieboldiana'' Blume
*'' Boehmeria splitgerbera'' Koidz.
*'' Boehmeria subintegra'' Friis & Wilmot-Dear
*'' Boehmeria ternifolia'' D.Don
*'' Boehmeria tsaratananensis'' Leandri
*'' Boehmeria villosa'' C.B.Rob.
*'' Boehmeria virgata'' (G.Forst.) Guill.
*'' Boehmeria yaeyamensis'' Hatus.
*'' Boehmeria zollingeriana'' Wedd.
Synonyms
The following names have been synonymized:
*''Boehmeria calophleba'' C.Moore & F.Muell. is a synonym of '' Pouzolzia australis'' (Endl.) Friis & Wilmot-Dear.
*''Boehmeria glomerulifera'' Miq. is a synonym of '' Boehmeria depauperata'' Wedd..
*''Boehmeria jamaicensis'' Urb. is a synonym of '' Boehmeria ramiflora'' Jacq..
*''Boehmeria macrophylla'' Hornem. is a synonym of ''Boehmeria virgata'' subsp. ''macrophylla''.
*''Boehmeria platyphylla'' D.Don is a synonym of '' Boehmeria virgata'' var. ''macrostachya''.
References
External links
Jepson Manual Treatment
{{Authority control
Urticaceae genera
Taxa named by Nikolaus Joseph von Jacquin