Parietaria debilis, commonly known as Pellitory or Native Pellitory, is a herb native to Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

 and New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

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Description

It grows as an annual herb from 7 to 40 centimetres in height, with green or white flowers. Individual plants bears both perfect and imperfect flowers.

Taxonomy

This species was published in 1786 by Georg Forster

Georg Forster

Johann Georg Adam Forster was a German naturalist, ethnologist, travel writer, journalist, and revolutionary. At an early age, he accompanied his father on several scientific expeditions, including James Cook's second voyage to the Pacific...

, based on a type specimen collected in New Zealand. It has twice been moved to other genera—to Urtica by Stephan Endlicher in 1833, and to Freirea by Alexander Viktorovich Jarmolenko in 1941—but neither move was accepted.

Distribution and habitat

It is native to Australia and New Zealand. In Australia it is widespread in temperate regions, occurring in every state and territory. It favours well-drained sites, especially in calcareous soils.