( 2235 ) 



MelastomA osbeckioides. Osbeckia-like 

 melastoma. 



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Class and Order. 

 1)ecandria Monogynia. 



Generic Character. 



Cal. 5-fidus, campanulatus. Petala 5, calyci inserta. 

 Bacca 5-locularis, calyce obvoluta. 



Specific Character. 



Melastoma osbeckioides; foliis oblongo-ellipticis trinerviis 

 margine nervisque ciliatis, floribus terminalibus aggre- 

 gatis calycibus apice setosis. 



Desc. Stem shrubby, upright, covered with a furrowed 

 bark: branches, short, square, hispid. Leaves opposite, 

 oblong-elliptical, on short footstalks, three-nerved, nerves 

 and margin ciliated, pale underneath. Flowers terminal, 

 rose-coloured, three or four together, on short smooth pe- 

 duncles. Calyx cup-shaped with a five-toothed border, and 

 a scale-like appendix between the teeth : teeth acuminate, 

 terminated with a bifid or trifid bristle. Corolla five-petalcd : 

 petals obovate, clawed, three-nerved. Stamens ten, on short 

 Jilaments inserted into the margin of the calyx : anthers cur- 

 ved, reflected into the cavity of the calyx and finally opening 

 at the apex to discharge the pollen. Germen nearly globular, 

 bristly at the point, five-celled : ovula many, attached to a 

 central receptacle. 



This plant belongs to the natural order of Melastomacea;, 

 and in several respects approaches nearer to the genus Os- 

 8ECRU than that of Melastoma, but being decandrous, we 



think 



