(Hornem.) Friis & Wilmot-Dear
Description
Boehmeria virgata subsp. macrophylla (Hornem.) Friis & Wilmot-Dear is a widespread paleotropical shrub of the nettle family, recorded by GBIF in over 2500 occurrences across an extraordinarily broad range that includes India (IN), Nepal (NP), China (CN), Thailand (TH) and Indonesia (ID), as well as much of tropical Africa (Tanzania, Cameroon, Gabon, Uganda, Angola), the Indian Ocean islands (Madagascar, Réunion, Mauritius, Comoros) and Australia (AU). It occupies forest margins, streambanks, clearings and disturbed secondary vegetation at low to mid elevations, and was photographed at Galephu in southern Bhutan at 500 m in October, in the warm subtropical foothills.
The plant is a shrub or coarse perennial herb with terete, often pubescent stems. The leaves are large, alternate or subopposite, broadly ovate to elliptic with a serrate margin, acuminate apex and three prominent basal veins, the lower surface frequently pale and softly hairy. As in all Boehmeria, the foliage lacks the stinging hairs found elsewhere in Urticaceae. The plant is monoecious, with minute unisexual flowers crowded into globose clusters arranged along slender, often elongate, interrupted spike-like inflorescences; female flowers have a tubular perianth enclosing a single ovule. The fruit is a small achene enclosed in the persistent, sometimes winged perianth.
This taxon belongs to a polymorphic complex that has been treated under various names including Boehmeria macrophylla, and the subspecific rank reflects Friis and Wilmot-Dear's revision integrating the Asian and African material. Wind pollination and the dust-like achenes account for its vast distribution. Stem fibres of Boehmeria species, notably ramie, are economically important, and the plant readily colonises disturbed ground, making it a frequent component of regenerating tropical and subtropical forest.
Author: (Hornem.) Friis & Wilmot-Dear · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of Bhutan, Flora of China, Urticaceae revision (Friis & Wilmot-Dear)