Dendrocnide

Genus of plants in the family Urticaceae

Dendrocnide is a genus of approximately 40 species of plants in the nettle family Urticaceae. They have a wide distribution across North East India, Southeast Asia, Australia and the Pacific Islands. In Australia they are commonly known as stinging trees.

Plants in this genus are evergreen shrubs or small trees, with the exception of the aptly named giant stinging tree (D. excelsa) which may reach in height. Dendrocnide species have a sympodial growth habit and are armed with fine needle like stinging hairs. They are generally fast growing and produce soft wood, and are usually found in areas of disturbed forest where they fill the role of a pioneer species. The leaves are simple, alternate, and petiolate, (i. e. having long petioles or leaf stems), and the leaf blade may be either entire or have some form of dentate toothing (notches or teeth on the edges of the leaf). The leaves are also often large, and may be either leathery or papery. The stipules are fused and deciduous, leaving conspicuous scars on the twigs after falling. The inflorescences are axillary and pedunculate, flowers are either solitary or in racemes or panicles. Male flowers may be 4 or 5 merous and the female flowers are 4 merous. Most species are dioecious, a small number are monoecious. Fruits are an achene, often compressed, and may be eclosed within the swollen pedicel.

The genus Dendrocnide was raised in 1851 by the Dutch physician, botanist, and taxonomist Friedrich Anton Wilhelm Miquel (1811–1871) who dedicated a large part of his life to describing specimens of the flora of the Dutch East Indies which were sent to him by his many contacts. This genus was first published in the work Plantae Junghuhnianae, in which he described three species, namely D. peltata, D. costata (the original type species that is now known as D. stimulans) and D. coerulea.