44 ON THE VEGETATION OF MALAYSIA, 



with opposite entire leaves marked with translucent dots. The 

 stamens are indefinite. Not only, however, is there the closest 

 relationship between the two orders, but they pass into one 

 another, so to speak, in the genera Blakea, Astronia, and Alouriria. 

 Mouriria has no ribs on the leaves, which are very distinctly 

 dotted. Diplogenea shows also some signs of dots, while Meme- 

 cylon has no lateral ribs, neither has the large genus Sonerila, 



There is a strong resemblance also between the two orders in 

 the variations to which the typical structures are subject. To 

 mention no more than the leaves, we find almost every variety of 

 form amongst the Myrtles, such as in the genus Calythrix where 

 they are scattered (not opposite), small, semi-terete, three- or four- 

 angled, rigid, and as unlike the leaves of a myrtle as possible, to 

 the showy coriaceous forms amongst the Eugenia, Tristania, &c. 

 In the Melastomace^ there is just as much variety, which seems 

 to follow the same lines. The characteristic leaf-structure in 

 some of the South American species disappears. For instance, in 

 the genus Fritzschia the leaves are small, coriaceous, sometimes 

 dentate, and with impressed dots ; in Lavoisiera they are small 

 and decussately imbricated ; in Marcetia small and heath-like, 

 and so forth. 



It would seem as if the Melastomace^ are, in the Malaysian 

 region, what the Myrtace^ are in Australia within the tropics, 

 where they do not prevail over other forms of vegetation to the 

 extent they do in temperate regions. The genera of Myrtles with 

 fleshy fruits are the members of the order best represented in the 

 Malaysian region, but in Australia such are almost entirely 

 confined to the tropics. On the other hand, the characteristic 

 Myrtace^ of Australia are those with capsular fruits, and they 

 are nearly entirely confined to that continent, though there are a 

 few stragglers to be found in the flora we are now considering. 

 There is a Metrosideros in the Malayan Peninsula, and I found on 

 the summit of Gunong Bubu a Leptospermum and a Leucopogon. 

 The Melastomace^ of Australia are few in number, not exceeding 

 five species, belonging to four wide-spread genera, namely, 



