MELASTOMACE^. 263 



or distinct, opening with 2 terminal pores : cells separated by a longitudinal furrow : 

 connective produced at its base into a conical, posterior spur. Ocary adherent, 6-locular : 

 stigma minute, smooth. — Trailing sbrubs ; leaves leathery, petioled: nerves communicating 

 by numerous transverse or oblique veins ; flowers large, solitary, axillary : bracts in con- 

 tinuous, decussate pairs, concealing the calyx. 



76. B. trinervis, L. Leaves elliptical, pointleted, rounded at the base, subtriplinerved ; 

 calyx 6-lobed ; anthers distinct, complanate, ovate-roundish, bluntish : connective obliquely 

 indexed, and spur short. — Br. Jam. t. 35. Tuss. Fl. 3. t. 24.— A shrub, the branches sup- 

 porting themselves on neighbouring bushes {Macf.) : branchlets with the petioles and the 

 under side of leaf-ribs covered with a rusty-tomentose down ; .leaves 2"-3" long, at length 

 glabrous and shining, minutely dotted : nerves prominent beneath, separating a little above the 

 base, lateral ones running close and parallel to the margin ; peduncles longer than the peti- 

 ole: bracts elliptical or roundish, blunt, striated by nerves, half the length of the flower; 

 petals large, 1^" long, obovate, piuk ; anther-pores a little projecting. I find the anthers 

 quite distinct in the fully developed flower, and no part of the epidermis of the cells shows 

 any signs of a former coherence : this, if confirmed by the bud, would be a remarkable 

 difference from the following species and other Pyxidanthece. The shape of the anthers, 

 which (in conjunction with characters of minor importance) has induced Naudin to dissolve 

 Blakea into three or four genera, seems in this genus to be only of specific value, and indeed 

 it is so > different in the two West Indian species, that they might be separated also, with 

 as good reason as Bellucia. — Hab. Jamaica!, Hist., Al., Wullschl., common inj mountain 

 woods. 



77. B. laurifolia, Naud. Leaves elliptical, pointed at both ends, trinerved; calyx 6- 

 toothed ; anthers cohering, erect : cells oblong, blunt, twice as large as the linear, straight 

 connective, and spur one-third the length of the filament, bluntish. — A shrub, perfectly gla- 

 brous; leaf-ribs prominent, separating at the base itself; peduncles a little longer than the 

 petiole ; bracts roundish, striated by nerves ; petals rosy. In habit it agrees exactly with 

 the preceding species, but is besides easily recognized by the veins of leaves almost 1'" distant 

 from each other, and running not at a right-angle from the midrib (as is the case in B. tri- 

 nervis),^^ in a somewhat oblique direction of about 40°. — Hab. Dominica!, Imr. ; S.Vin- 

 cent, Guild., in mountain woods ; [Guadeloupe !]. 



18*. BELLUCIA, Ned.; Naud. (1. c. 16./). 102; 18. t. 4./. 1). 



Calyx irregularly lobed, without an involucre. Anthers 10-16, distinct at length, opening 

 with two terminal pores : cells entirely separated by a longitudinal furrow : connective spur- 

 less, obliquely indexed. Ovary adherent, 8-1 6-locular : stigma capitate, longitudinally fur- 

 rowed. — A low tree; leaves petioled; triplinerved: nerves communicating by distant veins; 

 flowers large, axillary ; berry large, eatable. 



78*. B. Aubletii, Naud.— Seem. Fl. Panam. t. 26.— Blakea quinquenervia, Aubl. B. 

 Hostmanni et superba, Naud. ! Ischyranthera laevigata, Steud. ! — A tree, 20'-25' high ; 

 leaves usually 5"-8" long, •elliptical, pointleted, shining above and pale beneath ; pedicels 

 solitary or 2-3, as long as the petiole ; petals rosy or whitish, obovate, about 8"' long ; 

 berry yellow. — Hab. Naturalized in the southern Caribbean Islands; [Mexico ! to Para!]. 



Tribe III. CHAMANTHEM— Fruit capsular. Seeds not cochleate. Appendages of 

 anthers, if present, on the posterior side. 



19. CHARIANTHUS, Bon; Naud. {I.e. 18. p. 111). 

 Calyx-limb spreading, shortly 4-lobed or repand. Anthers 8, without appendages, open- 

 ing longitudinally or with a terminal pore : filaments subulate, inflexed in the bud. Ocary 

 adherent, 4-2-locular. Capsule crowned with the calyx-limb : seeds pyramidal. — Shrubs, 

 endemic to the West Indies ; leaves somewhat leathery, petioled, usually triplinerved ; 

 cyme corymbiform, terminal; petals large, crimson or purple, oblong or oval, erect, much 

 exceeded by the sexual organs. 



Sect. 1. Euchabianthus. — Cell* of the anthers- opening longitudinally. Ovary 4,-locular. 

 79. Ch. coccineus, Don. Glabrous; leaves ovate, protracted into a bluntish point, 



