THE PHILIPPINE JOURNAL OF SCIENCE, C. BOTANY. — 
Vol. XII, No. 6, November, 1917. 
NEW PHILIPPINE MELASTOMATACEAE 
By E. D. MERRILL * 
(From the Botanical Section of the Biological Laboratory, Bureau of Science, 
Manila) 
At the commencement of our botanical exploration of the 
Philippines in 1902, but a few representatives of this charac- 
teristic family were known from the Archipelago. The number 
of genera is not large, representatives of but about twenty-one 
being now known from the Philippines; by far the largest genus 
is Medinilla, while Astronia and Memecylon are both represented 
by a fair number of species. With the exception of a few of 
the more common and widely distributed species most of the 
representatives of this family are confined to the forested areas, 
and a very high percentage of them are not only endemic, but 
are also very local. I have previously published two papers’ 
devoted entirely to representatives of this family, chiefly to 
the genera Astronia, Memecylon, and Medinilla. The present 
paper is in the nature of a continuation of the former ones and 
consists chiefly of the descriptions of twenty-eight new species 
in the genera Anerincleistus, Astronia, Medinilla, Melastoma, 
Otanthera, and Memecylon, with a new variety of Beccarianthus 
ickisit Merr.; the genus Anerincleistus is new to the Philippines. 
ANERINCLEISTUS Korth 
ANERINCLEISTUS PHILIPPINENSIS sp. nov. 
Frutex 2 ad 3 m altus; ramulis dense pilosis; foliis oppositis, 
in eisdem paribus inaequalibus sed similimis, ovatis, chartaceis, 
acuminatis, denticulatis, basi cordatis, 7- vel 9-nerviis usque ad 
20 cm longis, utrinque plus minusve hirsutis vel hispido-pilosis ; 
floribus axillaribus, solitariis vel fasciculatis, pedicellatis, petalis 
circiter 1.5 longis. : 
An erect, branched shrub 2 to 3 m high, most parts more 
or less densely pubescent. Branches terete, rather slender, 
densely pilose with short, spreading, brownish or purplish hairs. 
Leaves in pairs, unequal but similar in shape, ovate, 10 to 20 
* Professor of botany, University of the Philippines. 
* Merrill, E. D., Studies on Philippine Melastomataceae, I, Philip. Journ. 
Sci. 8 (1913) Bot. 207-250; II, op. cit. 335-361, pl. 11, 12. ae 
