Dendrocnide


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.

Description

Plants in this genus are evergreen shrubs or small trees, with the exception of the aptly-named giant stinging tree 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,, and the leaf blade may be either entire or have some form of dentate toothing. 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.

Taxonomy

The genus Dendrocnide was raised in 1851 by the Dutch physician, botanist, and taxonomist Friedrich Anton Wilhelm Miquel 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 and D. coerulea.

Etymology

The name of this genus comes from Ancient Greek déndron, and knī́dē, referring to the large size of most species in this genus.

List of species

The following is a list of all 41 species recognised by Plants of the World Online as of 2025, with a brief summary of their distribution.
  • Dendrocnide amplissima Chew - Maluku Islands, Sulawesi
  • Dendrocnide basirotunda Chew - China south-central, Myanmar, Thailand
  • Dendrocnide carriana Chew - Lesser Sunda Islands, Maluku Islands, New Guinea, Philippines
  • Dendrocnide celebica Chew - Sulawesi
  • Dendrocnide contracta Chew - Java
  • Dendrocnide corallodesme Chew - New Guinea, Queensland
  • Dendrocnide cordata Chew - Lesser Sunda Islands, New Guinea, Bismarck Archipelago
  • Dendrocnide cordifolia Jackes - Queensland
  • Dendrocnide crassifolia Chew - Philippines, Sulawesi
  • Dendrocnide densiflora Chew - Philippines
  • Dendrocnide elliptica Chew - Borneo, Philippines
  • Dendrocnide excelsa Chew - New South Wales, Queensland
  • Dendrocnide gigantea Chew - Melanesia
  • Dendrocnide harveyi Chew - Cook Islands, Fiji, Niue, Samoa, Tonga
  • Dendrocnide kajewskii Chew - Solomon Islands
  • Dendrocnide kjellbergii Chew - Sulawesi
  • Dendrocnide kotoensis B.L.Shih & Yuen P.Yang - Taiwan
  • Dendrocnide latifolia Chew - Caroline Islands, Marianas, New Caledonia, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu
  • Dendrocnide longifolia Chew - Bismarck Archipelago, Maluku Islands, New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Sulawesi
  • Dendrocnide luzonensis Chew - Philippines
  • Dendrocnide meyeniana Chew - Philippines, Taiwan
  • Dendrocnide microstigma Chew - Java, Lesser Sunda Islands, Maluku Islands, Sulawesi
  • Dendrocnide mirabilis Chew - New Guinea, Solomon Islands
  • Dendrocnide morobensis Chew - New Guinea
  • Dendrocnide moroides Chew - Lesser Sunda Islands, New South Wales, Queensland, Vanuatu
  • Dendrocnide nervosa Chew - New Guinea, Solomon Islands
  • Dendrocnide oblanceolata Chew - Borneo, Sulawesi
  • Dendrocnide peltata Miq. - Christmas Island, Java, Lesser Sunda Islands, New Guinea
  • Dendrocnide photiniphylla Chew - New South Wales, Queensland
  • Dendrocnide pruritivus H.St.John - Fiji, Wallis and Futuna
  • Dendrocnide rechingeri Chew - Bismarck Archipelago, New Guinea, Solomon Islands
  • Dendrocnide rigidifolia Chew - Philippines
  • Dendrocnide schlechteri Chew - Bismarck Archipelago, New Guinea, Solomon Islands
  • Dendrocnide sessiliflora Chew - Bismarck Archipelago, New Guinea
  • Dendrocnide sinuata Chew - Nepal to southern China and western Malesia including Christmas Island
  • Dendrocnide stimulans Chew - China, Hainan, Taiwan, Indo-China, western and central Malesia
  • Dendrocnide subclausa Chew - Philippines
  • Dendrocnide ternatensis Chew - Lesser Sunda Islands, Maluku Islands, New Guinea
  • Dendrocnide torricellensis Chew - New Guinea
  • Dendrocnide urentissima Chew - Cambodia, south-central and south-east China, Vietnam
  • Dendrocnide venosa Chew - Philippines

    Other taxa

In addition to the above, the name Dendrocnide vitiensis is recognised by World Flora Online, World Plants, and the Global Biodiversity Information Facility, while POWO considers it to be a synonym of D. harveyi. GBIF also accepts Dendrocnide moroidea, which is not listed at all by POWO, WFO or WP. GBIF sources its data for this taxon from The Plant List, which is no longer maintained and is superseded by WFO.