MELASTOMACE^E. (MELASTOMA FAMILY.) 155 



teolate peduncles; petals obloug, spreading, as long as the stamens and slen- 

 der style; berry large. No Name Key, South Florida (Curtiss). A shrub 

 or small tree. 



* * * Flowers minute, in vert] short cluster-like racemes. 



5. E. monticola, DC. Smooth; leaves coriaceous, ovate-oblong, some- 

 what tapering towards the apex, but obtuse or emargiuate, contracted at the 

 base into a distinct petiole ; racemes clustered, several-flowered, shorter than 

 the petiole ; stamens numerous ; berry globose. South Florida. Shrub 

 4 -6 high. Brandies compressed. Leaves 2' long. Flowers white. Ber- 

 ries abundant, as large as a grain of pepper, black. 



G. E. buxifolia, Willd. ''( Leaves smooth, coriaceous, obovate- oblong, 



rounded at the apex, short petioled ; racemes single or clustered, few-flowered 

 about as long as the petiole; flowers minute; stamens few (9-12) or numer- 

 ous; berry 1-3-seeded. South Florida. Varies much in the size of the 

 leaves and berries, length of the petiole, and number of stamens. 



2. CALYPTRANTHES, Swartz. 



Calyx tube obovate ; the limb entire, opening across like a lid, deciduous. 

 Petals none. Stamens numerous. Ovary 2 - 3-celled, with 2 ovules in each 

 cell. Berry 1-celled, 1-4 seeded. Seeds roundish; testa smooth. Embryo 

 curved; the long and slender radicle coiled around the distinct unequal 

 folded and contorted cotyledons. Shrubs or trees. Peduncles axillary, 

 many-flowered. 



1 . C. Chy traculia, Swartz. Leaves ovate and ovate-lanceolate, acumi- 

 nate but obtuse, pubescent, becoming smooth above ; peduncles longer than 

 the leaves, cymose-panicled, tomentose ; flowers minute, berry dry, globose, 

 1 - 2-seeded. South Florida. A small tree. 



ORDER .57. MELASTOMACEJE. (MELASTOMA FAMILY.) 



Herbs, shrubs, or trees, with opposite 3 - 9-ribbed leaves without 

 dots or stipules, and showy flowers. Calyx urn-shaped, 4 - 6-lobed, 

 persistent, cohering with the ovary below, or with its angles. Petals 

 4 - fi, twisted in the bud, inserted with the 4-12 stamens on the 

 throat of the calyx. Anthers adnate, often appendaged, usually 

 opening by terminal pores. Ovary 3-6-celled. Ovules numerous, 

 attached to the central placentae. Style solitary. Fruit baccate and 

 indehisceut, or capsular and loculicidally dehiscent. Seeds anatro- 

 pous, without albumen. 



1. RHEXIA, L. DEER-GRASS. 

 Calyx tube prolonged and narrowed above the ovary, 4-cleft. Petals 4, 



roundish, deciduous. Stamens 8. Authors l-roll^d ononino; by a terminal 

 pore. Capsule 4-celled, many-seeded. Perennial herbs. Leaves 3 - 5-ribbed. 

 Flowers cymose, terminal. 



