452 LVII. MELAST0MACE.3E (HOOKER). [Dissotis. 



surfaces with rather spreading" hairs ; petioles J— J- in., flat, ciliate with 

 copious rigid bristles £ in. long. Flowers solitary or 2-3, jointed on a 

 very short peduncle ; bracts as long as the calyx, very broad, mem- 

 branous, crinite, deciduous. Calyx-tube J in., broadly ovoid, glabrous, 

 smooth ; lobes as long as the tube, subulate-lanceolate, long acuminate, 

 ciliate and bristle-pointed, persistent ; accessory lobes 8-10, longer 

 than the lobes, linear-subulate with very long spreading cilia. Petals 

 not seen. Anthers of long stamens J in., rather exceeding the pro- 

 longed connective ; appendage clavate, entire ; connectives of small 

 anthers short, not spurred, appendage small. Capsule subglobose, 

 crown bristly, 5-valved. 

 Upper Guinea. Sierra Leone, Afzelius ! Don ! 



13. D. (Heterotis) phimosa, Benth. in Fl. Nigr. 348. Sparsely 

 hirsute. Stems 1-2 ft., woody below, slender procumbent rooting ; 

 branches ascending, obtusely 4-gonous, with long spreading bristles at 

 the nodes. Leaves membranous, J-l^ in. by J— § in., broadly ovate or 

 orbicular-ovate, obtuse or acute, 3-nerved, sparsely hirsute on both 

 surfaces; petiole slender, J-| in. Flowers solitary, shortly peduncled ; 

 bracts 2, membranous, broadly ovate, ciliate, l-10th in., deciduous. 

 Calyx-tube \ in., ovoid, thickly covered with long-stalked stellate pur- 

 plish bristles, lobes linear-subulate, half as long as the tube, tipped with 

 stellate bristles, persistent. Petals very broadly obovate, purple. An- 

 thers of long stamens \-\ in., incurved, shorter than or equalling the 

 prolonged connective, appendage 2-lobed ; connective of small anthers 

 shortly produced, obtusely spurred behind. Capsule ovoid, crown vil- 

 lous. — Melastoma plumosa, Don in Mem. Wern. Soc. iv. 291 ; DC. Prod, 

 iii. 147. Osbeckia rotundifolia, Sm. in Rees Cycl. iii. 143. 



"Upper Guinea. Sierra Leone, Afzelius! Vogcl! Admiral Grey! Accra, Don! 

 Abbeokuta, Irving! On dripping rocks, Princes' Island, Barter! 



14. D. (Heterotis) prostrata, Benth. in Fl. Nigr. 349. More or less 

 hirsute or subglabrous. Stem 2-3 ft., rather stout, prostrate or climb- 

 ing, sometimes rooting, flexuous, more or less hirsute with short or 

 long flexuous stout hairs ; nodes with spreading long bristles. Leaves 

 1 J-2J in. by f-1 in., ovate or elliptic, subacute, 3-nerved, hirsute with 

 straight rather appressed hairs on both surfaces ; petiole £-§ in. 

 Flowers solitary, 1J in. in diameter, shortly peduncled ; bracts 2, ^ in., 

 membranous, ovate, long-ciliate, deciduous. Calyx- tube \ in., covered 

 laxly with oblong or linear ciliate scales tipped bv stellate bristles ; 

 lobes subulate-lanceolate, three-quarters as long as the tube, ciliate and 

 tipped with stellate bristles, persistent. Petals very broadly obovate. An- 

 thers as in D. plumosa. Capsule subglobose, crowned with bristles. — Me- 

 lastoma prostrata, Schum. et Thonn. PL Guin. 220. Lepidanthemum tripliner- 

 vium, Klotzsch in Peters' Mossamb. Bot. 64. An Melastoma decumbens, 

 Beauv. Fl. Owar. i. 69, t. 41 ? Osbeckia decumbens, DC. Prod. iii. 143 ? 



Upper Guinea. Quorra river at Pattah, Vogell (A glabrous var.) Abbeokuta, 

 Irving! (Moderately pubescent, petioles very sbort.) 



Moxamb. Distr. Zanzibar, Bojer! Grant! Kirk! (An excessively hirsute 



