Clidemia.] Lix. melastomace^. 807 



(or pink) 4- to 5-merous. Calj^x campanulate or urceolate truncate 

 or lobed. Petals obovate. Stamens equal, double the number of 

 the petals ; anthers linear elongate. Berry small, globose. Species 

 about 100, S. American. One species thoroughly estabUshed in 

 the Malay Peninsula. 



(i) C. hirta Don. Mem. Wern. Soc. iv. 309; Cognianx DC. 

 Mon. Phan. vii. 986; Bot. Mag. t. 1971. 



A shrubby weed about 2 to 6 ft. tall, very hairy. Leaves thin 

 ovate-acuminate, denticulate; nerves 5 and transverse nervules 

 prominent, 3-5 in. long, 2-5 in. wide; petioles -5 in. long. 

 Cymes spreading i in. long. Calyx very hairy with subulate lobes. 

 Petals small, white. Fruit -2 in. long, globose, black, pulpy. 

 Hab. Abundant on roadsides, Singapore near town and in Reservoir 

 woods. Negri Sembilan, Seremban. Distrih. S. America and an 

 alien in Java and Fiji. 



23. ASTRONIA, Bl. 



Trees or shrubs. Leaves opposite, ovate or oblong. Flowers 

 small, white (or purple) in terminal panicles. Calyx campanulate, 

 truncate or lobed. Petals 4 or 5. Stamens 8, 10 or 12. Anthers 

 short, dehiscing by sHts down front; connective spurred or not. 

 Ovary 2- to 5-celled; style short. Stigma capitellate. Capsule 

 dehiscing irregularly. Seeds minute, copious, linear. Species 24, 

 Malayan, Polynesian. 



(i) A. smilacifolia Triana, Trans. Linn. Soc. xxviii. 152 ; 

 King, I.e. by. 



Bushy tree about 30 ft. tall. Branches, petiole, underside 

 of leaves red-scaly. Leaves oblong tapering to each end ; nervules 

 transverse, 3 to 5-5 in. long, 1-5 to 2-5 in. wide; petioles -i in. long. 

 Panicles i to 2 in. long, dense. Flowers white, -i in. long. Fruit 

 rufous-scaly globose, truncate, -2 in. through. Hab. Mountain 

 forests. Perak, Thaiping Hills. Penang Hill, on West Hill at 

 3000 ft. altitude. Distrib. Borneo. 



24. PTERNANDRA, Jack. 



Trees. Leaves sub-coriaceous or coriaceous sub-sessile, 3- to 

 5-nerved. Flowers sohtary in short clustered cymes, small or 

 moderate size, occasionally terminal panicled. Calyx-tube cam- 

 panulate or hemispheric tessellate, warty or covered with appressed 

 triangular processes; mouth truncate or 4-toothed. Petals 4, 

 ovate or oblong, blue or white. Stamens 8, equal, but some anthers 

 often imperfect ; anthers broad, blunt, spurred behind dehiscing 

 by sUts ; filaments short, thick often geniculate. Ovary 4-celled ; 

 style filiform. Stigma clubbed. Berry sub-globose, scaly or 

 smooth. Seeds obovoid angled. Species about 12, Malayan. 



