MELA STOW ACEiE. 247 



lobes thread-shaped, from a subulate base, as long as the tube ; petals 5 (-6), obovate^ ovary 

 5-locular : style filiform, with a blunt stigma.— Vahl, Ic. Amer. 2. t. 24 : a form with 

 ovate leaves, representing his Mel. crenata. — Melastoma hirta, L. M .paucillora, Desr. 

 CI. paucifiora, crenata, erythropogon ?, DC. CI. leptoclados, Crueg. ! Staphidium pauci- 

 florum, Naud. ! St. "Wilsonii, o, Naud. ! : the ripening state, with the ovary adherent. — A. 

 common shrub, 3'-8' high, variable in the form and nervature of leaves, the teeth of their 

 margin, and the down ; leaves 3"-6" long, tripli-5-nerved, taper-pointed or pointleted, den- 

 ticulate or subentire : hairs scattered ; petals white or rosy ; anthers tubercled oil the poste- 

 rior side of their base ; ovary free in the bud (with the exception of the adhering lines), but 

 at length adherent, produced at the tops into a long, cylindrical, furrowed neck ; berry 

 hairy, blue. 



a. Leaves rounded at the base, minutely denticulate or subentire. 



6. elegans, Don. Leaves ovate, subcordate at the base, densely crenated: crenatures 

 rather large, roundish, unequal. — Bot. Mag. t. 1971 ; Aubl. t. 167. — Melastoma hirta, Sw. I 

 M. crenata, Meg. Esseq. ! CI. crenata, Crueg. ! Staphidium elegans, Naud, I St. Wilsonii, 

 £, Naud. ! 



Hab. Jamaica !, all coll., common in shady situations and forests ; S. Kitts !, S. Vincent !, 

 Guild.; Trinidad!, Sieb. Tr. 65, Cr.; [Cuba! and Mexico! to Brazil! and Peru!]. 



Sect. 2. Staphidium. — Anthers linear, inflexed above the adherent ovary. Cymes 



axillary. 



9. CI. spicata, DC. Kusty -hispid ; leaves ovate, tubercled above and pitted beneath ; 

 cymes contracted, spiciform ; calyx-lobes filiform from a subulate base, double the length of 

 their interior appendage ; petals 5-6, obovate ; ovary 5-6-locular : style filiform, with a mi- 

 nute stigma. — Bon pi. Mel. t. 3. — Staphidium, Naud. — A shrub, 2-8' high, extremely vari- 

 able in the form of leaves, the inflorescence, and the down : leaves 5-nerved, crenated or 

 denticulate, petioled ; cymes usually compound below, usually with 3-flowered clusters ; petals 

 red or white ; anthers without appendages ; berry hairy, red. 



a. Bristles of the branches not glandular, emerging from a stellate down ; branches of the 

 cymes short or none ; calyx setose : lobes shorter than the tube, appendage roundish. — CI. 

 spicata, Cr. .', the most common Trinidad Clidemia. lleterotrichum dubium, Macf. 



P. strigillosa, DC. Bristles glandular ; most of the flower-clusters stalked ; calyx 

 larger: lobes almost equalling the tube, appendage oblong. — Melastoma, Sw. I CI. bullosa, 

 DC. CI. fenestrata, Benth. CI. agrestis, Macf. Heterotrichum viscosum, Macf. CI. 

 surinamensis, Miq. ! .- a form with looser cymes, and the calyx-lobes half the length of the 

 tube. 



7. pustulata, DC. Somewhat hoary by tomentose down: bristles few, some of them 

 glandular ; cymes loosened into long-stalked clusters ; calyx tomentose : lobes shorter and 

 appendages often protruding. 



Hab. Jamaica !, Al. (/3), to Trinidad !, Sieb. Trin. 63, Lockh., Cr., common in woods 

 and bogs ; [Panama !, Venezuela !, Guiana !, Brazil !, Peru !]. 



10. CI. Berterii, Gr. Branches and petioles shaggy with dense, rusty hairs ; leaves 

 ovate or subcordate, pointed, 5-nerved, denticulate, hairy: petioles exceeded by the axillary 

 peduncles of the corymbiform cymes; calyx covered with long, spreading bristles : lobes fili- 

 form from a subulate base, as long as the tube ; petals 4, obovate-obloiitr, blunt ; ovary 4- 

 locular : style filiform, with a minute stigma.— Sagrsea, DC. Staphidiastrum, Naud. ! — 

 Leaves 4"-8" long ; anthers without appendages. — Hab. Jamaica !, I'd., M'Nab, Wils., in 

 moist woods at 3000' alt. 



11. CI. latifolia, DC. Branches and petioles setose with dense rusty hairs: leaves 

 ovate, pointed, 5-nerved, denticulate, hairy : petioles long, equalling the axillary, corymbi- 

 form cymes ; calyx hairy, bibracteolate : lobes shortly subulate, half the length of the 

 tube ; petals 4, obovate ; ovary 4-locular : style filiform, with a capitulate stigma. — Vahl, Ic. 

 Amer. 3. t. 29. — Melastoma latifolia, Desr. M. umbrosa, Sw. ! Sagraja umbrosa, DC. 

 Staphidiastrum latifolium, Naud. St. umbrosum, Naud. Staphidium latifoliiun and urn- 

 brosum, Gr. — A shrub, 6-7' high ; leaves 4"-12" long ; cymes divided : secondary branch- 

 lets sub-3-flowered ; petals white; berry hairy, black. — Hab. S. Kitts, Dominica!, Tmr. ; 

 Trinidad I, Sieb. Trin. 59, in mountain woods; [Martinique!, Sieb. Mart. 299 ; Guade- 

 loup e]. 



