410 MELASTOMACEJE ALAXG1 ACE.E PHILADELPHACE.E. 



863. Order 76. Ueiastomacon:, the Melastoma Family. (Polypet 

 Perig. or Epigyn.) Calyx with 4, 5, or 6 divisions, which are more or 

 less deep, OP are sometimes united and separate from the tube like a 

 lid. Petals equal to the segments of the calyx, perigynous, aestivation 

 twisted. Stamens equal in number to the petals and alternate with 

 them, usually with intermediate sterile ones ; filaments curved down- 

 wards in the young .state; anthers long, often beaked, bilocular, 

 dehiscing by two terminal pores or longitudinally. Ovary more or 

 less adherent to the calyx, multilocular ; ovules usually 00 ; style 1 ; 

 stigma simple, either capitate or minute. Fruit multilocular, either 

 capsular, with loculicidal dehiscence, or succulent, combined with the 

 calyx and indehiscent. Seeds <x> , minute, attached to central pla- 

 centas, exalbuminous ; embryo, straight or curved ; cotyledons some- 

 times unequal, flat, or convolute. Trees, shrubs, or herbs, with 

 opposite, undivided, usually entire, often 3-9-ribbed leaves, not dotted. 

 They are found chiefly in warm climates. Many are natives of 

 America and India. There are no unwholesome plants in the order, 

 and the succulent fruit of several is edible. A slight degree of astrin- 

 gency pervades all the plants of the order, and hence some are used 

 medicinally in cases of diarrhoea. The name Melastoma (ftfaxg, black, 

 and art/ace, mouth), is derived from the circumstance that the fruit of 

 some dyes the lips black. There are two suborders: 1. Melastomeae, 

 with ribbed leaves and flat cotyledons. 2. Memecyleas, with ribless 

 leaves and convolute cotyledons. Lindley notices 118 genera, com- 

 prising 1200 species. Examples Melastoma, Osbeckia, Lasiandra, 

 Ehexia, Lavoisiera, Miconia, Charianthus, Memecylon, Mouriria. 



864. Order 77. Aiangiaceie, the Alangium Family. (Polypet. 

 Epigyn.) Calyx campanulate, adherent, 5-10-toothed. Petals 5-10, 

 linear, reflexed, inserted into a fleshy disk, which is adherent to the 

 calyx, and ovary ; aestivation twisted. Stamens long, exserted, 2 or 4 

 times as many as the petals ; filaments distinct, villous at the base ; 

 anthers bilocular, adnate, introrse, often sterile. Ovary globose, uni- 

 bilocular ; ovules solitary, anatropal ; style filiform ; stigma capitate 

 or conical. Fruit oval, fleshy, coherent with the tube of the calyx, 

 and somewhat crowned by its limb, slightly ribbed ; endocarp some- 

 times osseous, with a foramen at the apex. Seed solitary, anatropal ; 

 albumen fleshy, brittle ; embryo straight ; cotyledons flat, foliaceous ; 

 radicle long, superior. Trees or shrubs, with alternate, exstipulate 

 leaves, which are not dotted. They are found chiefly in India, some 

 are natives of America ; some of the plants yield edible fruits, others 

 are purgative. Lindley enumerates 3 genera, comprehending 8 species. 

 Examples Alangium, Nyssa. 



865. Order 78. Phiiadeipbaceie, the Syringa Family. (Polypet. 

 Epigyn.) Calyx with a 4-10-divided, persistent limb. Petals alter- 

 nate with the divisions of the calyx, and equal to them in number ; 



