MELASTOMACEJI. 253 



Pogonorrhynchus sessilis, Crueg. ! P. amplexans, Cr. ! : a form with the leaf-base auricled 

 and the auricles clasping. — A tree, 30' high, but reduced sometimes to low, shrubby 

 forms ; branches and panicle tomentose with stellate down ; leaves 6"-24" long, turning 

 black in drying above, with a greyish or rusty persistent down beneath : the lateral nerves 

 separating above the cuneate base ; panicle racemiform : bracteoles short, deciduous ; calyx- 

 tube canipauulatc, produced beyond the ovary : teeth short, rounded, with a tubercle on the 

 outside ; petals white, with blue filaments and red anthers ; autheis densely glandular at 

 the base on the anterior side ; berry blue : seeds angular, with the testa somewhat rugose. — 

 IIab. Trinidad !, Cr. ; [Guiana !, where it is common ; Brazil !]. 



9. CONOSTEGIA, Bon; Nand. {I. c. 16.;;. 105). 



Calyx operculate : closed operculum falling away from the truncate, cupuliform tube. An- 

 thers 10-subindefinite, oblong, inflexed above the ovary, opening with a single terminal 

 pore : cells distinct below the top. Ovary adherent, crowned with a glabrous neck, encir- 

 cling the base of the style •. stigma capitate. Seeds obovate. — Shrubs or trees, usually not 

 hispid ; leaves petioled ; panicle terminal. 



* Panicle simply divided; flowers large. 



38. C. procera, Don. Glabrous ; leaves elliptical-oblong, subtriplinerved ; primary 

 branches of the panicle 3-1-flowered, with the lateral pedicels jointed at the middle; 

 operculum conical and abruptly pointleted •. the point bluntish ; petals 6-5, obliquely obo- 

 vate, twice the length of the calyx-tube ; anthers 18-10 : connective with a minute tubercle 

 on the back above the base. — Bonpl. Mel. t. 51. — Melastoma, Sw. ! — A tree, according to 

 Swartz and Purdie 40-50' high, but much varying in growth ; leaves 2"-5" long, entire : 

 axils of nerves somewhat bearded ; calyx, before its opening, 6"'-8'" long ; petals rosy or 

 white ;- ovary 6-9-locular. — A remarkable variety exists in the form of a twining shrub, on 

 which Dr. Alexander remarks : " Though in a dried state impossible to distinguish, yet, as 

 they grow, the one is like a Horse-Chestnut, the other twining round trees and bushes like a 

 Woodbine." This latter I believe I recognize in specimens collected by Mr. March, and 

 would characterize thus :— 



/3. Balbisiana, DC. Leaves oval and blunt with a point ; calyx shorter (5'" long) : oper- 

 culum blunt (without the point of a) ; stigma smaller, not exceeding in breadth the thickened 

 style. — C. gloriosa, Mac/., seems to be a form with narrower leaves. 



Hab. Jamaica !, all coll., in mountain woods. 



39. C. rufescens, Naud. Branchlets and panicle covered with a rusty, mealy down ; 

 leaves elliptical-oblong, tapering and cuspidate, triplinerved ; primary branches of the pa- 

 nicle 3-7-flowered, with the pedicels shorter than the flowers and without articulation ; calyx 

 lusty : operculum conical, bluntish ; petals 6, obliquely obovate, about the length of the 

 calyx-tube; anthers 18 or fewer. — C. formosa, Mac/. — A shrub, about 12' high : branchlets 

 obtuse-angled ; leaves 3"-4" long, obsoletely crenate or entire ; calyx, before its opening, 

 3"'-5"' long ; ovary 6-locular : stigma peltate. — Hab. Jamaica !, Pd., in woods of the eastern 

 districts. 



40. C. subhirsuta, BC. Branchlets and panicle covered with a setose down ,• leaves 

 elliptical or elliptical-oblong, pointleted, triplinerved; panicle corymbiform : divisions 3-7- 

 flowered : pedicels shorter than the flowers and without articulation ; calyx glabresccnt : 

 operculum convex, quite blunt; petals 10-6, obliquely obovate; anthers 20 or subindetinite. 

 —Melastoma arborescens, Sieb.Mart. 119! (nonJubl.).—A. shrub, 10'-16'high: branchhts 

 subcompressed ; leaves 4"-10" long, obsoletely crenate or entire j calyx before its opening 

 nearly globose or obovate, 3"'-4'" diam. ; petals white ; ovary 20-12-locular : stigma peltate. 

 — Hab. Jamaica!, Waters, in mountain woods; Dominica!, Imr. ; Trinidad!, Pd., Cr.; 

 [Cuba, French islands ! ; Mexico, New Granada]. 



** Panicle compound ; flowers smaller. 



41. C. superba, Naud. Glabrous ; leaves ovate or oval, subtriplinerved ; secondary 

 branches of the panicle ending with a 3-5-flowered, umbelliform cyme : the pedicels equal- 

 ling the flower ; operculum continuous with the calyx-tube, conical, pointed ; petals 5-6, 



