Tas. 4957. 
MELASTOMA pDeEnNTICULATUM. 
Toothed Melastoma. 
Nat. Ord. MeLasToMACEx.—DECANDRIA Monoeynla. 
Gen. Char. Calycis tubus ovatus, seepius squamis vestitus: Zimdus 5- aut ra- 
rius 4—6-fidus, Jodis deciduis, appendicibus extus inter lobos interdum ut in Os- 
beckia ortis parvis. Petala tot quot calycis lobi. Stamina seepius numero peta- 
lorum dupla, rarius equali. -duthere connectivo in aliis elongato, in alternis 
breviore, basi bicalcarato aut bisetoso. Stigma, punctum pruinosum. Capsula 
baccata, 5-locularis (rarius 4—6-locularis). Semina cochleata.—Frutices Asiatict 
aut Africani, sepius hispide setosi. Folia petiolata, integerrima aut serrulata, 3—7- 
nervia. Pedunculi axillares aut terminales. Flores ampli, albi rosei aut pur- 
purei. De Cand. 
MELAstoma denticulatum ; fruticosum, ramulis e compresso teretiusculis petio- 
lisque setis adpressis, scabris foliis petiolatis ovali-oblongis acuminatis 5- 
nerviis superue setis parvis scabris subtus pallidis secus nervos adpresse 
strigosis, floribus paucis subcymosis, calycis urceolati adpresse strigosi lobis 
(ovato-) lanceolatis deciduis. De Cand. 
ME.astoma denticulatum. Labill. Sert. Caled. p. 65. t. 64. De Cand. Prodr. 
v. 3. p. 44. Naudin, Melast. p. 160. 
An inhabitant of New Caledonia, where it was discovered by 
Labillardiére, during the voyage in search of La Peyrouse, and 
it was accurately figured and described in the ‘Sertum Austro- 
Caledonicum’ of that author. It has been recently introduced 
into Europe by the botanist of Captain Denham’s Surveying 
Voyage (Mr. Milne), who sent seeds gathered in New Caledonia 
to the Royal Gardens of Kew, where it flowers freely in July and 
August. We presume that M. Naudin, author of the learned 
monograph of Melastomacee, intends this to be considered a true 
Melastoma, though he places it in a group of “species addende ; 
multe autem incerte:” but Walpers, apparently copying from 
Naudin, speaks of the species of the section as “ adhuc incerta.” 
This species must surely have been well known to M. Naudin, 
both by the figure of Labillardiére and by specimens in the Paris 
Herbaria. 
DECEMBER Ist, 1856. 
