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MELASTOMACEiE. XLVIIL Clidemia. 



- XLVIII. CLIDE'MIA (in honour of CHclemi, an ancient woods on mount Cercovado, near Rio Janeiro. Melastoma amyg- 

 Greek botanist). D. Don, in mem. soc. wern. 4. p. 306. D, C. daloides, Schrank et Mart, mss. Leaves almost triple-nerved, 



prod. 3. p. 155. 



Monogyn 



Tube of calyx ovate, 



naked, rarely bracteate at the base ; lobes 5, permanent, narrow, 

 acute. Petals 5, rarely 6. Stamens 10 ; anthers constricted at 

 the base, and rather biauriculate, opening by one pore at the 

 apex. Ovarium adnate to the calyx, usually crowned by a 

 circle of bristles at the apex. 

 dot. 



not cochleate, nor appendiculated. — Hispid 



Style filiform ; stigma a pruinose 

 Capsule baccate, 5-celled. Seeds ovate or rather angular, 



^ or hairy shrubs, 

 native of South America. Leaves usually crenated, 3-7-nerved. 

 Flowers axillary and terminal. This genus is easily distin- 

 guished from the rest of the genera of the present order by the 

 habit, but the species are difficult to define. Perhaps the species 

 with obtuse petals are separable from those with acute petals. 



§ 1. AxiUares. Flowers in axillary panicles or spikes* 



Flowers crowded^ almost sessile, 

 1 C. aggregaVa (D. Don, in mem. soc. wern. 4. p. 309.) nerves, membranous; flowers in terminal and axillary, almost 



3 inches long, and 8-9 lines broad. Petals white, oblongly trian- 

 gidar, acute. 



Almond-like Clidemia. Sh. 4 to 6 feet. 



7 C. ? BRACHYSTA^CHYA (D. C. 1. c.) branches terete, and are, 

 as well as the petioles, densely hispid ; leaves petiolate, elon- 

 gately linear, acuminated, 3-nerved, cihately serrated, bristly on 

 the middle nerve above, the rest glabrous, but covered with long 

 bristles beneath ; spikes hispid, axillary, shorter than the pe- 

 tioles. ^ . S. Native of Brazil, in the province of Rio Ja- 

 neiro, in woods. Rhexia spicata, Schrank et Mart. mss. Very 

 near C, amygdaloides. Fruit globose, hairy, crowned by the 5 

 short acute lobes of the calyx. Flowers not seen. 



Short-spiked Clidemia. Sh. 1 to 2 feet. 



8 C. conglomera'ta (D. C. L c.) branches terete, hispid from 

 thick branched hairs ; petioles clothed with the same kind of 

 hairs ; leaves ovate, attenuated at the base, acuminated at the apex, 

 irregularly crenated and ciliated, 5 -nerved, glabrous except on the 



leaves elliptic, quite entire, acute at both ends, and are, as well 

 as the branches, pilose ; flowers axillary, verticillate, almost ses- 

 sile. ^ . S. Native of Peru. 



Aggregate-flowerei Clidemia. Sh. 1 to 2 feet- 



2 C. SERi'cEA (D. Don, 1. c.) leaves oval, acute, crenated, 5- 

 nerved, clothed with silky villi on both surfaces ; flowers soli- 

 tary, axillary, verticillate, scaly at the base. Tj . S. Native of 

 Peru. The rest unknown. 



Silky Clidemia. Sh. 2 to 3 feet. 



3 C. coNFERTiFLORA (D. C. prod. 3. p. 156.) branches terete, 

 densely clothed with retrograde villi ; leaves on long petioles, 



sessile clusters ; calyx beset with violaceous hairs, with 5 lobes, 

 each ending in a plumose bunch of bristles. T2 . S. Native of 

 Cayenne, in woods. A very beautiful species, allied to Cpur* 

 pHrea. Melastoma conglomerata, Rich. herb. 



Conglomeraie-Qowered Clidemia. Sh. 1 to 2 feet. 



9 C, ERYTHROPOGON (D. C prod. 3. p. 157.) branches terete, 

 and are, as well as the petioles, hairy ; leaves petiolate, oval-acu- 

 minated, denticulated, 5-nerved, beset with scattered stiff' hairs 

 on both surfaces; racemes axillary, almost sessile, 3-flo\vered; 

 calyx very hispid from red bristles, with 6 setaceous lobes. ^ . 

 S. Native of Jamaica. Melastoma sessilifolium, Spreng. syst. 



oval, acute, nearly entire, villous bencatl), and beset with sliort 2. p. 295. ? Petals and stamens not seen, 

 bristles above, 7-ncrvcd; nerves crowded above the base of the Red-bearded Clidemia. Sh. 3 to 4 ft. 



leaves ; panicles axillary, crowded, very short ; tube of calyx 

 very hairy, fj . S. Native of Brazil, near Rio Janeiro, in 

 woods. Melastoma aggregatum, Schrank et Mart. mss. Pe- 

 tioles an inch long, covered with spreading down. Setae long, 

 yellow. Lobes of calyx 5, hardly distinct. Petals oval-lanceo- 

 late, flesh-coloured, but red in the middle. Anthers oval, fur- 

 nished with filiform connectives. Style filiform. 



Crowded-Jlonered Clidemia. Sh. 3 to 4 feet. 



4 C. RETROPiLA (D. C. 1. c.) branches hairy, beset with ru- 

 fous retrograde plli ; petioles very hairy ; leaves oval, acumi- 

 nated, serrulated, quintuple-nerved, hairy or downy on both 



* * Peduncles axillary, 1-Jlowered. 



10 C. cilia' TA (D.Don, mem. soc. wern. 4. p. 309.) leaves 

 cordate, acute, crenated, almost sessile, pilose above, densely 

 clothed with stellate tomentum beneath ; calyx tomentose. ^« 

 S. Native of Peru. Melastoma ciliata, Pav. in herb. Lamb, 

 but not of Desr. nor Rich. Perhaps belonging to a different 

 section. 



Ciliated-leaved Clidemia, Sh. 2 to 3 (eet. 



11 C. capilla'ris (D. Don, 1. c. p. 308.) leaves elliptic, ere- 



^ ^^ „^„,. „„ „^,,, nulated, 3-nerved, acuminated, clothed with silky vilh on both 



surfaces ; nerves rather distant IVom'thrbaseT flTuers in'almo'st su^^^^^s, and on the branchlets ; pedicels capillary, axniary, twin 

 sessile clusters in the axils of the leaves ; calyx hispid, 5-cleft. 

 ^2 . S. Native of Brazil. Petioles 5 lines long, rufous from 

 Spreading down. Lobes of calyx 5, setaceous. 

 Bent'haircd Clidemia. Sh. 2 to 3 feet. 



1 -flowered. Tj . S. Native of Peru. Melast. capillaris, Pav. 



in herb. Lamb, but not of Swartz. 



CapV/a/^-pedicelled Clidemia. Sh. 2 to 3 feet. 



* * * Peduncles axillary, hearing cymes or j^an? 

 Jlowers. 



icles oj 



5 C, margina'ta (D. C. 1. c.) branches nearly terete, and are, 

 as well as the petioles, clothed with small short powdery velvety 12 C. Epibate'rium (D. C prod. 3. p. 157.) stem climbing 



down ; leaves petiolate, elliptic, acuminated, ciliated, triple- branched, terete, rooting, clothed with rufous hairs above, as 

 nerved, besides the marginal nervules, downy beneath, but beset well as the petioles ; leaves petiolate, ovate, acuminated, obtuse 

 wifb RPaftPrprl Krictl^c .hn,.o . .a.o^^o f^«._fl^„.^..^ .,,:ii — at the basc, 5-7-nerved, dcuticulated, rather pilosc ; flowersfe^, 



•" ' ' ' • - T2 . S. Native ot 



with scattered bristles above ; racemes few-flowered, axillary, 

 3 times shorter than the petiole ; calyx very hispid, 5-cleft. Tj . 

 S. Native of Brazil, near Rio Janeiro, on the mountains in 

 woods. Melastoma marginjlta, Desr. in Lam. diet. 4. p. 32. 

 Melast. Jauuarensis, Schrank et Mart. mss. Flowers and fruit 

 not sufficiently examined. 



Margined-lea\ cd Clidemia. Sh. 3 to 4 feet. 



6 C. AMYGDALoiDEs (D. C. 1. c.) branches tetragonal, and 

 are, as well as tlie petioles and panicles, clothed with stiff" bris- 

 tles ; leaves petiolate, oblong, acuminated, 3-5-nerved, some- 

 what crenulated, villous on both surfaces ; panicles axillary, 

 short, few-flowered ; calyx very hispid, 5-lobed ; lobes bearing 

 small stellate down on the inside. " ^ ^"^ ' " '^ *' ' 



m axillary racemose cymes ; calyx hispid. , ^ . 



- - Melastoma Epibatermn., 



Melast. volubile, Schrank, mss. A very distinc 



Anthers bluntly 



The 



Brazil, in the province of Rio Negro. 

 Mart. herb. 



^ 



Native of Brazil, in 



species. Lobes of calyx bristly at the apex. 



auriculated at the base, opening by one pore at the apex. * "^ 



name is derived from tm, upon, and fiairu), to walk, m alius 



to the plant climbing upon others. 



Climbing Clidemia. Sh. climbing. 4 re as 



13 C. petiola'ta (D. C. 1. c.) branches terete, ^^^/j^^g, 



well as the petioles, covered w ith rufous spreading hairs ; ^^^^ 



on long petioles, cordate-ovate, acuminated, ^'"^""ytf' /''npath J 

 ciliated, with a few bristles above, but smoothish oen 





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