Nettle family
Description
A family of mainly herbs and some shrubs and small trees, almost cosmopolitan in distribution (Urticaceae 1). The alternate leaves are simple, often with stinging hairs. The flowers are clustered, small, greenish and inconspicuous, usually unisexual, with a perianth of 4-5 segments. Male flowers with 4 or 5 stamens; the female ones with a superior ovary. The fruit is a drupe or nutlet.
There are about 50 genera.
Use
The genus Boehmeria yields ramie fibre.
Described species:
Boehmeria nivea, ramie, rhea, China grass