PARIETARIA, in botany, a genus of the polygamia monandria class. The calix, both in the female and hermaphrodite, consists of four segments; none of them have any corolla; the hermaphrodite has four stamens; and both have one style, and one long seed. There are six species, only one of them, viz. the officinalis, or pellitory of the wall, is a native of Britain. It is esteemed as cooling and abicent.