Alangium ALANGIACEAE-MELASTOMACEAE Osbeckia 



or cream-colored, VI. Eastern and central China, Korea, Japan; locally in An., 

 Che., Hun., Hup., Ki., Ku. Woodland. 

 3. Alang-ium platanifolium (Sieb. & Zucc.) Harms A^fi (Pa Chio Feng; Eight- 

 angled Maple) (R.M. 669). Tree or shrub, to 5 m.; fls. white or cream-colored, 

 VI-VII. Central China, Japan; locally in Ki., Ku. Woodland. 



125. MYRTACEAE Myrtle Family $£&$£{- (T'ao Chin Niang K'o) 

 Evergreen aromatic woody plants: lvs. usually opposite, entire, pellucid- punctate, 

 estipulate: fls. perfect, regular; sepals and petals 4-5 (occasionally 0); stamens numer- 

 ous, sometimes in fascicles opposite the petals; ovary inferior, 1-many-celled: fr. a 

 capsule, berry (ours), drupe or nut, 1 -many-seeded. 80 genera with 3,000 species, 

 tropical and subtropical; 5 genera and 20 species in China. 



1. Syzygium Gaertn. MfJkiS (P'u T'ao Shu; Swamp-peach Genus) 



Trees or shrubs with opposite coriaceous evergreen lvs.; fls. in trichotomous 

 usually terminal corymbose panicles, 4- or rarely 5-parted; petals more or less joined 

 in a cap and falling together; stamens numerous and free: fr. a berry, crowded by 

 the remains or scar of the calyx, usually with 1 seed; seed coat adhering loosely to 

 the pericarp. Over 140 species, in tropical Asia, Africa, Australia; about 10 in China. 

 (Greek: suzugia, to join together, referring to the joining together of the pairs of 

 opposite nearly sessile lvs. of a Jamaican species, as described by Patrick Browne in 

 1756. (Browne, 240,t.7,f.2.) 



1. Syzygium buxifolium Hook. & Arn. (Be.F. 118). Shrub or small tree ; fls. white, 

 VII-VIII. Southeastern Asia; locally in An., Che., Hun., Hup. Ki. Woodland. 



126. MELASTOMACEAE Melastoma Family K4±frfif (Yeh Mu Tan K'o; 



Wild-peony Family) 



Herbs (ours) shrubs or trees with opposite estipulate entire lvs. which are charac- 

 teristically 3-7-ribbed : fls. perfect, regular, epigynous, often showy, usually 4-parted; 

 stamens few or many; anthers opening by apical pores; connectives often ivith peculiar 

 and diverse appendages; ovary 1 -several-celled; style simple: fr. berry-like or capsular- 

 150 genera with 4,000 species, in all tropical countries; 10 genera and 20 species in 

 China. 



Key to the Genera 



Calyx tube with stellate hairs or pectinate scales; lvs. mostly linear.... 1. Osbeckia 

 Calyx tube 4-winged, glabrous: lvs. ovate 2. Sarcopyramis 



1. Osbeckia Linn. ^i$§M (Chin Chin Hsiang Shu) 



Setose herbs or shrubs with 3-7-ribbed mostly linear lvs.: fls. conspicuous, purple, 

 mauve or white; calyx tube ivith stellate hairs or pectinate scales; stamens 10 or 8; 

 connectives not spurred; ovary inferior, 4-5-celled: fr. a capsule, opening with 4-5 

 valves: seeds many, curved through a half circle, tuberculate. 32 species, in eastern 

 Asia, Malaysia and Australia; 2 in China. (Named for Peter Osbeck, 1723-1805, 

 Swedish naturalist who voyaged to the East Indies in 1757.) 



1. Osbeckia chinensis Linn. ^|$§ (Chin Chin Hsiang; Precious-ornamental Frag- 

 rance) (Be.F. 114). Erect herb, to 5 dm.; fls. pink, VIII-IX. Tropical Asia, 

 Malaysia; locally in An., Hup., Ki., Ku. Grassland, damp meadows. Fig. 261. 



273 



