above rich velvety green, below paler, with stellate down, and 
the veins prominent, villous. Cymes terminal, of ten to twelve 
flowers of the size and colouring of those of the Horse-Chestnut. 
Calyz-tube campanulate, pale green, tinged with deep red above, 
the limb expanding, membranaceous, eight-toothed ; teeth long, 
linear, hispid. Petals eight, obovate, imbricated, pure white, 
red at the base. Stamens sixteen. Ovary conical, ovate, the 
base adherent with the base of the calyx, eight-celled. Style 
thick, columnar, inclined, shorter than the stamens. Stigma 
orbicular, obscurely lobed. W. J. H. 
Curr. Within our recollection it was customary to grow all 
Melastomacee in light peat soil, the same as was then used for 
Heaths; but as it is now ascertained that the family is very 
numerous and widely spread, the great mass of species inhabiting 
tropical America, having very various habits and places of growth, 
it could not be expected that cultivators would in all cases be 
successful by using only one kind of soil. As it is known that 
some species grow naturally in very hard clayey soil, this want of 
attention to the nature of the plants may in a measure account for 
the paucity of species at this time in our gardens. The present 
one thrives well in good light loam; it should receive plenty of 
pot-room ; the shoots require to be occasionally stopped in order 
to keep the plant from becoming naked below, but in houses 
where there is little space, it will be best not to encourage it too . 
much ; and as it is readily propagated by cuttings, it is advisable 
to have a succession of young plants ready to replace the old ones 
as they become naked, which they will do after a time. J. S’ 
Fig. 1. Calyx and pistil. 2. Section of ditto. 3. Transverse section of 
ovary. 4. Stamens :—magnijied. 
