FLOKA OF THE ISTHMUS OF PA^^AilA. 121 
LYTHRARIEiE. 
3G3. Clpiiea appendiculata, Bcutli.j \Mprs. Rep. vol. ii. p. 105.— C. elcyans, Klotzsclij ul^i? 
Volcano of Chiriqui, Veragiias; Mexico (Hartivcg, no. 402). 
3G4. CupiiEA Bahamona, Ckam. et Sclilcclit., Wlprs. Rep. vol. ii. p. 107. Cominon in the 
savanas all over the country. 
365. CuPHEA rivularis, Seem.; suffruticosa, ramulis liirsutis dcmum glahris, foUis oppositis 
lauccolatis basi rotundatis niargine ciliato-dcuticiilatis apicc acutis supra glahris snhhi^ pnbcsccnti- 
liirsutis, pcdiccUis alaribus l-florisj calycc brcvissime calcarato subliirsuto, pctali,s 5 iuit^tpuluugiB 
(violacois)j stamiiiibus 11, filamentis villosis, ovario 10-ovulato, capsula .... Ou the banks of 
rivers ncai* Tola, Province of Vcraguas. 
A sbrub a foot high, often decumbent. Leaves about 1 inch long and 1 lino broad ; flowers small, like 
those of its allies C. Bahamona, C. gracilis, and G. dcnlicuJata. 
366. CuPHEA antisyph'ditica, II. B. K., Dc Cand. Prodr. vol. iii. p. 87. Commou ou the out- 
skirts of woods all over the country. 
It is very likely that this so-called species is a mere variety or even form of C. Bahamona, but until 
the whole genus Citphea has been revised, it ia better to consider it as a separate species. 
367. CuPHEA gracilis, H. B. K., Dc Cand. Prodr. vol. iii. p. 87. On rocks in rivers near Panama. 
This species, which has quite the habit of 0. hjssopifolia, H. B. K., was found by Skinner in Guatemala, 
and by Linden in Mexico. 
368. CuPHEA rigidula, Bcutb., "VMprs. Rep. vol. ii. p. 108. In the woods of Southern Daricn. 
369. DoDECAS Surinamensis , Linn, fil., De Cand. Prodr. vol. iii. p. 01. Southern Daricn, com- 
mon on the sea-side. 
MELASTOMACE^, 
The Natural Order Melastomaceee, of which at present 40 species are known to exist in the Tstlimus, 
exercises a marked influence upon the aspect of its Plora. MelastomacecB are found in almost every locality^ 
in dry and wet places, in sunny savanas and in shady forests, in the lower coast region, and on the mountains 
several thousand feet above the sea-level. Most of them arc shrubby, only a few (G) are herbaceous, and but 
three {Bellucia AuUetii, Naud., Mieonia Jongistyla, Stcudl., and M. pmsina, Do Cand.) arboreous ; their 
leaves are, with a few exceptions, covered more or less with hair ; their flowers are generally small,— only 
three species {Bhjnclianthera insignis, Naud., Lamandra bipenieiUaia, Naud., and Bellucia Aullctii, Naud.) 
produce blossoms wMch may be termed large, and would on that account obtain for them a place in a 
garden ; and they are moreover in moat cases white. Their fruit is mostly a berry, only in a few instances 
(11) a capsule, and if we except CentraJcuia rosea, Don, Oreocosmus fcrrvgincus, Seem., Lasiandra hipeni- 
cillata, Naud., and Monoch<£tum Rumboldtianum, Kth., it may he said that the capsular Melaslomacew are 
found in wet places, and the berry-bearing ones in dry. 
lu an economical point of view these MelastomacecB are of little value. The wood of several species 
{BelUcia AuUetii, Naud., Mieonia longisfijJa, Steudl., and M. prasina, De Cand.) is sometimes used for 
building purposes ; the leaves of Conostcgia speciosa, Naud., are employed in washing plates and other 
vessels, on account of which the plant is sometimes caUed Friego-pUto ; and the insipid berries of BeU 
hicia Auhletii, Naud., as well as those of several species oi Staphidium, Mieonia, aud Clidcmia, arc eaten. 
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