Urtica australis Hook.f.
Stout, monoecious herb, usually with few short-stalked stinging hairs, otherwise sparsely to densely hairy; branches decumbent and rooting, then erect. Lvs broadly ovate, acute, cordate to truncate at base, coarsely serrate, 10-20 cm long. Stipules 2 per node and 2-fid, or 4 per node and entire. Most racemes unisexual; ♀ racemes above ♂ on stem.
S.: Islets of Foveaux Strait and Fiordland; St.; Ch., A., C., Ant.
Endemic.
Coastal forest, forest margin and sea-strand.
U. aucklandica Hook. f. was originally described as smaller than U. australis, clad in ashy white hairs, with few stinging hairs, 2 2-fid stipules per node and ♂ perianth segments setose. However, U. australis shows considerable variation in hair characters, some specimens being quite densely hairy [certainly not sparsely hairy or glabrous as stated by Allan (1961) and other authors] with ♂ perianth segments setose. Stipule shape also varies (usually ovate-lanceolate) and lf size is extremely variable. Cheeseman (1925) also considered that U. aucklandica "... may be safely regarded as a state of U. australis". At present, U. aucklandica is best regarded as a synonym of U. australis.
