Memecylon.] lvii. MELASTOMACEiE (hookrr). 463 



6. M. fasciculare, Planch, in Fl. Nigr. 357 (Spathandra). Branches 

 rather slender ; branchlets terete. Leaves shortly petioled, 3—4 in. by 

 1 J-2 in., rigidly coriaceous, red-brown when dry, elliptic- ovate or lan- 

 ceolate, obtuse or abruptly contracted into an obtuse point, lucid on both 

 surfaces, nerves very distinct, 2 outer not arching, transverse many 

 with distinctly reticulated areolae ; petiole l~\ in. Inflorescence gla- 

 brous of minute flowers clustered on very short axillary peduncles ; 

 pedicels short, bracteolate at the base, bracteoles minute crowded, per- 

 sistent, orbicular, concave, obtuse or mucronate. Calyx l-10th in. dia- 

 meter, tube obovoid or obconic, expanding into a broad concave 6-lobed 

 limb, lobes rounded, inside not ribbed. Petals obovate, spathulate. Fila- 

 ments long, slender. Berry \ in. diameter, globose or broadly pyri- 

 form, flesh thin. Testa coriaceous ; cotyledons folded, convolute. — 

 M. Heudelotii, Naud. in Ann. Sc. Nat. ser. 3, xviii. 265. 



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



7. M. virescens, Hook. f. Branches slender. Leaves shortly 

 petioled, 5-6 in. by 2 \- 3 in., rather coriaceous, pale green on both 

 surfaces, elliptic-oblong, acuminate, penninerved, base acute, lucid 

 above, nerves above very indistinct, beneath costa distinct, lateral nerves 

 few, indistinct, distant, nearly horizontal, uniting in an intra-marginal 

 equally faint one ; petiole ^ in. Flowers clustered on very short axil- 

 lary glabrous peduncles, green j pedicels short, glabrous ; bracteoles 

 clustered ai their bases, suborbicular concave persistent. Calyx hemi- 

 spheric ; limb membranous, hardly lobed, inside 8-ribbed, ribs in pairs. 

 Petals transversely oblong, broadly imbricate with very broad bases. 

 Filaments apparently short. Ovules 4 in a depressed cell. 



Upper Guinea. Gaboon river, Mann I — I have but one specimen, and that in bud 

 only. 



8. M. polyanthemos, Hook. J. A shrub ; branches trichotomous, 

 slender. Leaves petioled, 2-4 in. by 1 J— 2 in., thickly coriaceous, lurid 

 greenish or brown, sublucid on both surfaces, elliptic, base acute, apex 

 suddenly contracted to a long broad acute point, penninerved, nerves 

 very indistinct or evanescent on both surfaces, lateral nearly horizontal. 

 Flowers in numerous axillary solitary or fascicled corymbose many- 

 flowered panicles J-1J in. long and broad, peduncles and branches 

 subumbellate compressed and angled, quite glabrous ; bracteoles crowded 

 at the base of the subumbellate slender pedicels, deciduous. Calyx 

 l-10th in. diameter, tube turbinate j limb large, obscurely 4-toothed, 

 8-winged inside, wings approaching in pairs. Petals broadly ovate, 

 tips valvate. Filaments short. Ovules 8. Berry J in., broadly ovoid j 

 flesh thin, testa rather membranous, cotyledons crumpled. 



Upper Guinea. Sierra Leone, Afzelius! Bagroo river, Mann! fl. April. 



9. M. Donianum, Planch, in Fl. Nigr. 357. Branches rather stout. 

 Leaves 4-6 in. by 2-2J in., very thickly rigidly coriaceous, elliptic- 

 oblong, abruptly acuminate, base acute, polished and red-brown when 



