Boehmeria nivea
Template:Short description Template:About Template:Use dmy dates Template:Speciesbox Boehmeria nivea, commonly known as ramie, Chinese grass or Chinese silk plant,<ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref> is a monoecious shrub or subshrub in the family Urticaceae commonly found in China.<ref name=":0" /><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="FoC">Template:Cite web</ref> It is native to warm temperate and tropical regions of the eastern Himalaya, and east and southeastern Asia.<ref name="POWO_55676-3" /> It grows to 2 metres tall, with alternately-arranged leaves 7–15 cm long and 6–12 cm broad, oval-acuminate with a serrated margin.<ref name="RHSD">Template:Cite book</ref> Boehmeria nivea has been cultivated in China and elsewhere in southeast Asia for thousands of years,<ref name="FoC" /> as the source of the fibre crop ramie.<ref name="RHSD"/> It has been introduced into tropical and subtropical parts of other continents, such the southeastern United States.<ref name="POWO_55676-3" />
Taxonomy
Boehmeria nivea was first described by Carl Linnaeus in 1753 as Urtica nivea. In 1830, Charles Gaudichaud-Beaupré transferred it to the genus Boehmeria,<ref name=POWO_55676-3/> which had been established by Nikolaus Joseph von Jacquin in 1760.<ref name=IPNI_327224-2>Template:IPNI</ref> The species has acquired a substantial number of synonyms, most in the genera Boehmeria and Urtica.<ref name=POWO_55676-3/> Some varieties have been proposed but are not accepted: Boehmeria nivea var. tenacissima and Boehmeria nivea var. strigosa.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>