MELASTOMACE^E. I. MERIANIA. II. AXINXA. III. CHASTEN.EA. IV. LAVOISIERA. 



733 



diet. 4. p. 35. but not of D. Don. Petals obovate, yellow, and 

 red. Style exserted. Fruit 5-lobed. Connectives of stamens 

 drawn out into a spur at the base. Anthers bursting by 2 pores 

 at the apex. 



Obtuse-leaved Meriania. Shrub 6-10 feet. 



5 M. PRUNIFOLIA (D. Don, in wern. soc. mem. 4. p. 223.) 

 branches terete ; petioles, peduncles, and nerves of leaves beneath 

 clothed with flocky, powdery, rufous down ; leaves petiolate, 

 ovate, acute, crenulately-serrated, 3-nerved ; flowers sessile, 

 solitary in the axils of the upper leaves and at the tops of the 

 branches; calyx 10-striped. 1; . S. Native of Peru. Rhexia 

 axillaris, Pavon. in herb. Moric. Tube of calyx ovate, nearly 

 10-ribbed, when young tomentose, but at length glabrous, 5- 

 lobed : lobes dilated at the base. Capsule 5-celled, 5-valved, 

 truncate at the apex. Seeds small, angular. Flowers purple. 



Plum-leaved Meriania. Shrub 6 feet. 



6 M. PARVIFLORA (D. Don, 1. c.) leaves elliptic, acute, den- 

 ticulated ; peduncles trifid, 3-flowered. ^ S. Native of Bra- 

 zil. Shrub erect, branched. Leaves more than an inch long. 

 Flowers small, rose-coloured. 



Small-flowered Meriania. Shrub. 



Cult, This is an elegant genus. The species grow best in a 

 mixture of peat and sand, and half-ripened cuttings root freely if 

 planted in the same kind of soil, with a hand-glass over them, 

 in heat. 



II. AXIN^E 1 A (airri, axine, a hatchet ; form of petals). Ruiz 

 et Pav. fl. per. syst. p. 122. D. Don, in wern. mem. soc. 4. 

 p. 320. D.C. prod. 3. p. 101. 



LIN. SYST. Deca-Dodecandrla, Monogynia. Calyx cup- 

 shaped, naked at the base ; limb permanent, 5-6-toothed. Pe- 

 tals 5-6. Stamens 10-12. Anthers obtuse at the apex and 

 opening by 2 pores, and ending in a simple spur at the base. 

 Capsule free, 5-6-celled. Frondose trees or shrubs, natives of 

 Peru. Leaves ovate -lanceolate, or broadly cordate, coriaceous, 

 dentate, or crenated, 5-nerved, reticulately veined, petiolate, 

 wrinkled or flat above, clothed with short brown tomentum 

 beneath. Flowers terminal, corymbose, or sub-racemose, large, 

 purple, or white. 



1 A. PURPU'REA (Ruiz et Pav. syst. 1. p. 122.) leaves cordate, 

 7-nerved, crenated, reticulately veined, wrinkled above and 

 scabrous, but lacunose and clothed with brown tomentum be- 

 neath ; peduncles 1 -flowered, corymbose. Tj . S. Native of 

 Peru, in groves. Ruiz et Pav. fl. per. 5. t. 510. Flowers 

 purple. 



Purple-fiowercd Axinaea. Shrub 6to 10 feet. 



2 A. M URIC A'TA (D. Don, in wern. soc. mem. 4. p. 321.) leaves 

 large, elliptic, crenated, 3-nerved, shortly acuminated, rather cor- 

 date at the base, naked above, but granular beneath as well as the 

 branchlets ; calyxes muricated. Tj . S. Native of Peru. 

 Leaves a foot long and 5 inches broad. Panicle terminal, many- 

 flowered. 



Muricated-ca\yx.e& Axinaea. Shrub 5 to 8 feet. 



3 A. LANCEOLA'TA (Ruiz et Pav. 1. c. p. 122.) leaves elliptic, 

 acuminated, toothed, 5-nerved, flat above, clothed with fuscous 

 tomentum beneath ; racemes panicled and terminal, fy . S. 

 Native of Peru, in woods at Muna and Pinao. Ruiz et Pav. fl. 

 per. 5. t. 509. 



Zanceo/a/e-leaved Axinaea. Shrub 6 to 10 feet. 



4 A. GLANDDLOSA (Ruiz et Pav. fl. per. 5. t. 512.) leaves 

 ovate, 5-nerved, denticulated, clothed with yellowish tomentum 

 beneath, but flat and glabrous above and biglandular at the base ; 

 panicle terminal, many-flowered. ^ . S. Native of Peru. 

 Tree frondose. Flowers white. 



Glandular Axinaea. Shrub 6 to 1 feet. 



5 A. DEPE'NDENS (Ruiz et Pav. fl. per. 5. t. 511.) leaves 



lanceolate, acuminated, denticulately serrated, 5-nerved, glabrous 

 above ; raceme terminal, panicled, pendulous. 1j . S. Native 

 of Peru. 



Hanging-racemed Axinaea. Shrub 6 to 10 feet. 



Cult. This genus is composed of elegant flowering shrubs 

 like the last ; and its species are cultivated and propagated in 

 the same manner. 



III. CHASTEN^E'A (in honour of Victorina de Chastenay, 

 who drew and painted the plants collected by Madame Merian 

 in an elegant style. See Meriania and Calendrier dejlore, &c.). 

 D. C. prod. 3. p. 102. 



LIN. SYST. Decandrla, Monogynia. Calyx naked at the 

 base, campanulate, truncate, entire. Petals 5, obovate. Sta- 

 mens 10; filaments flat; anthers linear, acute, bursting by 1 

 pore, having the connectives dilated into a large, rounded, and 

 perhaps hollow appendage. Style filiform ; stigma a pruinose 

 dot. Ovarittm free, glabrous. Capsule 5-celled, opening at 

 the apex. Seeds unknown. A smooth shrub, with the habit 

 of Meriania. Leaves petiolate, oval, 3-nerved, entire, coria- 

 ceous. Flowers pedicellate, ample, bractless, disposed some- 

 what in umbels at the tops of the branches and branchlets. 



1 C. MERIA'NIJ, (D. C. 1. c.). t? . S. Native of South 

 America, but in what place is unknown. Flowers purple, ac- 

 cording to the dried specimen. 



Merlan's Chastenaea. Shrub 4 to 6 feet. 



Cult. See Meriania for culture and propagation. An elegant 

 shrub, worthy of cultivation. 



IV. LAVOISIE'RA (this genus is dedicated by De Candolle 

 to the celebrated but unfortunate Lavoisier, whose name de- 

 serves this mark of respect). D. C. prod. 3. p. 102. 



LIN. SYST. Deca-Icosandrla, Monogynia. Tube of calyx 

 turbinately oblong ; lobes 5-10. Petals 5-10, oval, or 

 obovate. Stamens 10-20. Anthers ovate, terminating in a 

 short blunt beak at the apex, and bursting by a single pore, 

 dissimilar from the connectives being alternately long and 

 drawn out into a long, somewhat 2-lobed appendage at the arti- 

 culation, and the others being short and hardly produced. 

 Ovarium not beset with bristles at the apex. Capsule 5-10- 

 celled. Seeds angular. Brazilian shrubs, nearly all glabrous. 

 Leaves sessile, flat, or keeled, quite entire, or ciliated by a few 

 stiff hairs, 1 -nerved or many-nerved at the base : the narrower 

 ones nerveless. Flowers terminal, solitary, sessile. This is a 

 very shewy genus of plants. 



$ 1. DlosmoldecE (from Diosma, an idea, similar; plants with 

 the habit of Diosma). D.C. prod. 3. p. 102. Leaves ciliated 

 with stiff bristles. 



1 L. CATAPHRA'CTA (D. C. 1. c.) shrubby, dichotomous, or 

 trichotomous ; branches somewhat tetragonal, loricated ; leaves 

 sessile, half stem-clasping, keeled, having the middle nerve and 

 nerve-formed margins serrated from stiff bristles, the rest quite 

 glabrous and stiff; flowers terminal, sessile, solitary ; tube of 

 calyx ovate, shorter than the lobes, which are 6 lanceolate, and 

 ciliately serrated ; anthers dissimilar. T? . S. Native of Bra- 

 zil, on Serro Frio, in marshes, at the height of 4000 feet. 

 Rhexia cataphracta, Schrank, et Mart. mss. Allied to L. 

 imbricata, but the leaves spread more, and the branches are 

 less squarrose ; more nearly allied to L. insignis, but the leaves 

 are shorter and more crowded, and the ciliae of the calyx are 

 not glandular. Perhaps referrible to Axlrn&a. 



Cuirass Lavoisiera. Shrub 1 to 2 feet. 



2 L. IMBRICA'TA (D. C. 1. c. p. 103.) shrubby, quite glabrous ; 

 branches somewhat tetragonal ; leaves imbricated, in 4 rows, 



