River Nettle

peduncularis: stalked.

Annual erect or ascending herb with scrambling or almost prostrate stems and erect branches, up to c. 1 m tall. All part with numerous stinging hairs. Leaves ovate, up to c. 10 × 7 cm, with short stiff hairs above and on the veins below, acuminate at the apex; margin serrate with up to 25 teeth each side. Petiole 4-6 cm long. Flowers in sparsely branched panicles in the upper leaf axils, unisexual, usually on the same plant. Male clusters c. 1 cm in diameter, in the lower axils; female clusters c. 6 mm in diameter on short, winged pedicels.

From Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Swaziland and Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal and Eastern Cape, South Africa.