Urera

{{Automatic taxobox

|image = Urera simplex (fruit).jpg

|taxon = Urera

|subdivision_ranks = Species

|subdivision = 28; see text

|subdivision_ref = [https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:41030-1 Urera Gaudich.] Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 12 April 2024.

|authority = Gaudich. (1830)

|synonyms = Calostima {{small|Raf. (1837)}}

|synonyms_ref =

}}

Urera is a genus of flowering plants in the nettle family, Urticaceae. It has a pantropical distribution.Steinmann, V. W. (2005). [http://www1.ecologia.edu.mx/publicaciones/resumeness/ABM/ABM.71.2005/acta71(19-43).pdf Four new neotropical species and a new combination of Urera (Urticaceae).] Acta Botánica Mexicana (71), 19-43.

Description

Urera are lianas,[http://apps.kew.org/efloras/namedetail.do?flora=fz&taxon=105&nameid=490 Urera.] Flora Zambesiaca. shrubs, and small trees. Climbing species root along the stems and can reach the crowns of the trees they use for support. Some are spiny. They almost always have urticating hairs, often on bumps in the epidermis. These are stiff, stinging trichomes with swollen bases. The leaves are variable in shape and venation, and help in the identification of species. Also useful is the varying appearance and arrangement of cystoliths on the leaf surface. The inflorescence is a divided, branching panicle of flowers. Most species are dioecious, but a few are monoecious. Most species have male flowers with either four or five stamens and tepals. Female flowers generally have four uneven, free to mostly fused tepals. The fruit is an achene covered in orange or red flesh.

Systematics and taxonomy

The genus Urera was first described by Charles Gaudichaud-Beaupré in 1826 in his review of the studies done on Louis de Freycinet's voyage of the Uranie.Gaudichaud-Beaupré, C. (1826): [Description of Urera]. Botanique du voyage etc. de L'Uranie et La Physicienne: 496-97. He noted its distinctness, proposing the subtribe Urereae. This was later raised to the rank of tribe,Weddell, H. A. (1856): Urera. In: Baudry, G. & Baudry, J. (eds.): Monographie de la famille des Urticacées: 143-62. [in French]. G. and J. Baudry, Paris, France. and subsequently merged into Urticeae.Friis, I. (1989): The Urticaceae: a systematic review. In: Crane, P. E. & Blackmore, S. (eds.): Evolution, systematics, and fossil history of the Hamamelidae (Vol. 2): 285–308. Systematics Association Special Volume 40B. Oxford Science Publications, Oxford, UK.

No botanical monographs have been devoted to Urera since 1869. Knowledge of the systematics of the genus has accumulated mainly from new descriptions of species and floristic accounts.

About 113 species epithets have been published for the genus.{{aut|International Plant Names Index (IPNI)}} (2005): [http://www.ipni.org/ipni/advPlantNameSearch.do?find_family=&find_genus=Urera&find_species=&find_infrafamily=&find_infragenus=&find_infraspecies=&find_authorAbbrev=&find_includePublicationAuthors=on&find_includePublicationAuthors=off&find_includeBasionymAuthors=on&find_includeBasionymAuthors=off&find_publicationTitle=&find_isAPNIRecord=on&find_isAPNIRecord=false&find_isGCIRecord=on&find_isGCIRecord=false&find_isIKRecord=on&find_isIKRecord=false&find_rankToReturn=all&output_format=normal&find_sortByFamily=on&find_sortByFamily=off&query_type=by_query&back_page=plantsearch Urera]. Plants of the World Online currently accepts 28 species. Many species have been transferred to other genera, including Boehmeria, Dendrocnide, Girardinia, Gyrotaenia, Laportea, Obetia, and Scepocarpus. Other estimates for the number of valid species in Urera range up to 75. The genus is not well known, with current knowledge dependent mainly on outdated studies, and there is little agreement regarding its taxonomy.

Analysis of trnL-F chloroplast DNA sequence data suggests that Urera could be sister to Poikilospermum within the Urticaceae.Monro, A. K. (2006). [https://web.archive.org/web/20170422112720/http://www.amjbot.org/content/93/3/426.full The revision of species-rich genera: a phylogenetic framework for the strategic revision of Pilea (Urticaceae) based on CPDNA, NRDNA and morphology.] American Journal of Botany 93(3): 426-41.

File:urera-caracasana-berries.jpg fruits]]

=Species=

File:Starr 030405-0219 Urera glabra.jpg]]

File:Urera baccifera inflorescence.jpg]]

28 species are accepted.

Urera acuminata {{small|(Poir.) Gaudich. ex Decne.}}
Urera altissima {{small|Lillo}}
Urera aurantiaca {{small|Wedd.}}
Urera baccifera (L.) Gaudich. ex Wedd., 1852 – guaritoto, scratchbush
Urera capitata {{small|Wedd.}}
Urera caracasana (Jacq.) Gaudich. ex Griseb. – flameberry
Urera elata {{small|(Sw.) Griseb.}}
Urera expansa (Sw.) Griseb.
Urera fenestrata {{small|A.K.Monro & Al.Rodr.}}
Urera filiformis {{small|Rusby}}
Urera glabriuscula {{small|V.W.Steinm.}}
Urera gravenreuthii {{small|Engl.}}
Urera guanacastensis {{small|A.K.Monro & Al.Rodr.}}
Urera kaalae Wawra – Opuhe (O{{okina}}ahu in Hawaii)
Urera keayi {{small|Letouzey}}
Urera killipiana {{small|Standl. & Steyerm.}}
Urera laciniata {{small|Wedd.}}
Urera lianoides {{small|A.K.Monro & Al.Rodr.}}
Urera lobulata {{small|Urb. & Ekman}}
Urera martiniana {{small|V.W.Steinm.}}
Urera nitida {{small|(Vell.) P.Brack}}
Urera pacifica {{small|V.W.Steinm.}}
Urera simplex {{small|Wedd.}}
Urera talbotii {{small|Rendle}}
Urera verrucosa {{small|(Liebm.) V.W.Steinm.}} – chichicastle, mala mujer

=Formerly placed here=

Touchardia sandwicensis {{small|(Wedd.) ined.}} – hopue, Ōpuhe (Hawaii){{cite web |url=http://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/forestry/trees/CommonTreesHI/CFT_Urera_glabra.pdf |title=Ōpuhe |first=Little, E. L. |last=R. G. Skolmen |work=Common Forest Trees of Hawaii (Native and Introduced) |publisher=United States Forest Service |year=1989 |access-date=2009-11-28}} (as Urera sandwicensis {{small|Wedd.}}, U. glabra {{small|(Hook. & Arn.) Wedd.}}, and U. konaensis {{small|H.St.John}})

Urera

Description

Systematics and taxonomy

=Species=

=Formerly placed here=

References

Further reading