450 LVII. MELASTOMACEiE (HOOKER). [Dissotis. 



quite glabrous, except a few bristles at the very base ; lobes lanceolate, 

 acuminate, two-thirds as long as the tube, persistent, edges scarcely 

 ciliate, back often scabrid. Petals broad. Anthers of long stamens 

 upwards of \ in., connective nearly as long ; connective of short sta- 

 mens shortly produced. Capsule membranous, 5-valved, with an 

 apical ring of bristles at the tip. — Melastoma capitatum, Don, Gard. Diet, 

 ii. 764. Melastomastrum erectum, Naud. in Ann. Sc. Nat. ser. 3, xiii. 

 297. Tristemma erectum, Guill. et Perr. Fl. Seneg. 312. 

 Upper Guinea. Sierra Leone, Afzelius I Don ! Senegambia, Heudelot I 



Var. 0. Vogelii; stems weak, flexuous, very sparingly scabrid at the angles chiefly :— 

 H. Vogelii, Benth. 1. c. 352.— Sierra Leone, Afzelius! Vogell 



Var. y. Barteri; erect, robust, 4 feet high, stem and branches densely subhispidly 

 strigose, hairs more copious on both surfaces of the leaf, not so appressed ; petioles 

 J- in. ; calyx-lobes with long slender points ; anthers rather smaller. — Nupe on the 

 Niger, Barter /, m 



Apparently a very variable plant. The Senegambian specimen is very imperfect, 

 and has smaller flowers. 



7. D. (Heterotis) radicans, Hook. f. Stem slender, flexuous, 

 prostrate and rooting, much' branched ; branches ascending, flexuous, 

 sparsely strigillose. Leaves 1 J-2 in. by f-1 in., ovate, obtuse or subacute, 

 5-nerved, strigillose with sparse appressed hairs on both surfaces, 

 especially above ; petiole T V~i in. Heads few-flowered ; outer bracts 

 leafy, usually very broadly ovate ; inner as in H. capitata, but usually 

 with longer crinite bristles at the base. Flowers and fruit as in H. capi- 

 tata but about half the size. 



Upper Guinea. Sierra Leone, Afzelius ! 



Very similar to H. capitata, var. Vogelii, but smaller in all its parts, prostrate and 

 rooting; leaves more strigose beneath, of a reddish colour when dry. 



8. D. (Heterotis) hirsuta, Hook./. Hirsute with copious rather 

 soft spreading hairs and bristles. Stem prostrate, flexuous; obtusely 

 4-angled, dark coloured ; nodes with 1-2 straight appressed bristles. 

 Leaves 1J— 2 in. by 1-1 J in., ovate, acute, 5-nerved, almost equally hir- 

 sute on both surfaces, green or reddish beneath ; petiole \- \ in. Heads 

 3-6-flowered, sessile between the two uppermost leaves ; outer bracts 

 foliaceous; inner oblong; innermost linear, all ciliate. Flowers as in 

 D. capitata. 



Upper Guinea. Sierra Leone, Afzelius I Barter I Fl. May. 



9. D. villosa, Hook. f. Stem erect from a short decumbent base, 

 6-18 in. high, terete, stout, villous with dense soft suberect hairs, spar- 

 ingly branched, branches suberect. Leaves 1J-2 in. by J— J in., linear- 

 oblong, obtuse or subacute, margins cartilaginous, obscurely serrate, 

 3-nerved, equally densely villous on both surfaces ; petiole very stout. 

 Flowers 4-merous, crowded between the two uppermost leaves in sub- 

 capitate corymbs, shortly pedicelled ; bracts about equalling the pedi- 

 cels, oblong, pectinate and villous, obtuse, persistent, Calyx-tube J in., 

 shortly campanulate, nearly glabrous below, armed at the top with 6-8 

 linear appendages stellately crowned with long bristles ; lobes 4, f as 



