MELASTOMACEiE. 267 



A similar species, not yet met with in the British, islands, is : Ch. cham^cistus, Or. — 

 Leaves ovate, bluntish, uninerved, ciliate.: bristles on the upper side 12-14, wholly adnate, 

 and transformed into parallel, straight ridges, oblique to the midrib, and projected into 

 points on the convex margin ; flowers solitary at the end of branches, suberect, stalked : 

 pedicels as long as the calyx, and both organs hispid; calyx-lobes oblong, bluntish, erect; 

 anthers bluntish : tail short, scarcely one-fourth the length of the cells. — Melastoma ciliata, 

 |3, Lam. Rhexia channecistus, Sie'b. Mart. 297 ! Hephestionia, Naud. — A shrub, higher 

 and less branched than Ch. strigosa : branches tetragonal, strigose ; leaves small, 3'" long : 

 bristles on the uuder side shorter and more numerous, usually ending with a free point. — 

 Hab. Martinique!, on the top of the Montague Pelee: the only known locality. 



90. Ch. chironioides, Gr. (n. sp.). Leaves lanceolate, taper-pointed, uninerved, peti- 

 oled, strigose : bristles on the upper side 6-8, semiadnate, yellowish, parallel to the mid- 

 rib ; flowers usually ternate at the end of branches, suberect, almost sessile ; calyx-lobes 



. lanceolate-linear, taper-pointed ; anthers bluntish : tail short, scarcely one-fourth the length 

 of the cells. — A slender shrub : branches short, tetragonal, strigose, the uppermost ones 

 forming a sort of corymb of beautiful purple flowers ; leaves small, 4"' long : under side 

 paler, with a few bristles on the midrib and on the thinly rcvolute margin ; calyx strigose, 

 approximate to the bracts. This species is easily to be distinguished from the Ch. strigosa 

 by the narrow lobes of the calyx, and by the want of lateral ribs in the leaf. — Hab. Domi- 

 nica !, hnr. 



91. Ch. cistoides, Gr. (n. sp.). Leaves ovate, pointed, %-nerved, petioled, densely stri- 

 gose on the upper side : bristles diverging from the immersed nerves, adnate only at the 

 base ; flowers cymous at the end of branches, shortly stalked ; calyx-lobes subulate-linear, 



* diverging ; anthers bluntish : tail very short, scarcely one-sixth the length of the cells. — A 

 diffuse shrub, named after the resemblance of the leaves to those of some European Cisti : 

 branches subcyliudrical, strigose ; leaves 8"'-12"' long : bristles of the under side free to 

 the base, less numerous, being restricted to the prominent ribs, the veins, and the revolute 

 margin ; calyx hispid ; tubercles of the anther-tail obsolete. — Hab. S. Vincent I, Guild. 



25. ARTHROSTEMMA, DC. reform ; Naud. (1. c. 13. p. 355). 



(Pterogastra, Naud., ib. p. 32. Micranthella, Naud., ib. p. 347.) 



Calyx-tube 8-10-ribbed, setose: lobes 4-5, persistent. Anthers 8-1 0, equal : tail short 

 or none : base bitubercled. Ovary at length free, crowned with bristles, 4-5-locular. — 

 Herbs, often suffruteseent, or slender shrubs ; cymes axillary and terminal, usually consti- 

 tuting a large panicle, sometimes the single ones contracted or represented by a single 

 flower : flowers comparatively small. 



* Calyx-lobes ovate-oblong, pointed, alternating with branched bristles 

 (Arthrostemma, Naud.). 



92. A. glomeratum, Naud. Suffruteseent ; leaves ovate-lanceolate or lanceolate, 

 pointed, 3-nerved; terminal flowers clustered ; anthers 8 : tail very short or none. — Bonpl. 

 llhex. t. 32. — Rhexia dichotoma, Sieb. Mart. 99. Osbeckia glomerata, DC. Ptfiolt pis 

 capitata, Miq. Ph. glomerata, Crueg. ! A. capitatum, Naud. — Stem with elongated, tetra- 

 gonal, strigillose branches ; leaves with scattered, stiff hairs, subentire ; petals 4, rosy or 

 white; anthers tapering towards the top. — Hab. Dominica!, S. Vincent!, Guild.; Trini- 

 dad !, Cr., common on pastures and savannahs ; [Guiana !, Brazil !]. 



93. A. ladanoides, DC. Annual, herbaceous; leaves lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate, 

 pointed, 3-nerved ; flowers shortly stalked, distant, in a loose, dichotomous panicle ; anthers 



•8: tail about one-third the length of the cells. — lionpl. Rhex. t.27. — A.pumilum, Naud. 

 ex ic. cit. {Bonpl. ib. t. 35) : a common form, with smaller flowers. Pterolepis pumila, . 

 Crueg. I — Stem tetragonal, strigillose : branches slender ; leaves shortly strigose, with 

 scattered hairs, subentire ; petals 4, red ; anthers tapering towards the top. — Hab. Trini- 

 dad !, Sch., Lockh., Or., on savannahs; [Panama!, Venezuela!, Brazil!, Paraguay, Peru!]. 



** Calyx-lobes subulate, without alternating bristles (Micranthella, Naud.). 



94. A. laxtceolatum, Gr. Shrubby ; leaves oblong-lanceolate, acuminate, 3-nerved : 

 lateral nerves bipartite ; flowers at length nodding, arranged in dichotomous, axillary cymes ; 



