736 



MELASTOMACE;E. VI. GRAFFENRIEDA. VII. CENTRONIA. VIII. TRUNCARIA. IX. RHYNCHANTHERA. 



terminal ; petals 5, obovate. tj . S. Native of New Andalu- 

 sia, near Caripe. Rhexia rotundifolia, Bonpl. rhex. t. 25. 

 Flowers rose-coloured. 



Round-leaved Graffenrieda. Shrub 3 to 6 feet. 



2. Anthers with an obtuse appendage each. Lobes of calyx 

 triangular. Fruit umbi/icate at the apes. Perhaps a proper 

 genus. 



2 G. EXCE'LSA (D. C. 1. c.) branchlets tetragonal ; peduncles, 

 petioles, and under side of leaves clothed with velvety rufescent 

 down ; leaves on long petioles, oval, 7-nerved, crenulated, blis- 

 tered above, glabrous ; thyrse panicled, terminal ; bracteas 2 

 under each flower. TJ.. S. Native of South America, in shady 

 places near Loxa. Rhexia excelsa, Bonpl. rhex. t. 34. Osbeckia 

 excelsa, Spreng. syst. 2. p. 312. Stems numerous from the 

 same root, herbaceous, 6-10 feet high. The flower-bud or ala- 

 bastrum almost like that of Conostegia, but differs in being cleft 

 longitudinally. Flowers red ? 



Tall Graffenreida. PI. 6 to 10 feet. 



Cult. See Meriania for culture and propagation, p. 733. 

 Elegant plants, which deserve to be cultivated in every collection 

 of stove plants. 



VII. CENTRO'NIA (from Kevrpov, kentron, a spur ; anthers 

 furnished with a long spur each). D. Don, wern. mem. soc. 4. 

 p. SI 4. D. C. prod. 3. p. 106. 



LIN. SYST. Decdndria, Monogynia Calyx oblong, clothed 

 with retrograde bristles ; limb coarctate, entire. Petals 5. 

 Anthers terminating in a long beak, and furnished with a long 

 subulate acute process at the base. Neck of style elongated, 

 tubular, inclosing the ovarium. Stigma blunt. Capsule 5- 

 celled. A tree, having its branchlets densely clothed with rusty 

 tomentum. Leaves ample, elliptic, acuminated, quite entire, 

 petiolate, coriaceous, feather-nerved and reticulately veined, 

 glabrous and shining above, but when young clothed with brown- 

 ish deciduous tomentum beneath. Panicle terminal, large, 

 brachiate. Flowers large, purple. 



1 C. LAURIFOLIA (D. Don, in wern. soc. mem. 4. p. 315.) 

 fj . S. Native of Peru, in groves. Osbeckia Peruviana, Ruiz 

 et Pav. in herb. Lamb. 



Laurel-leaved Centronia. Tree. 



Cult. See Meriana, p. 733. for culture and propagation. 

 An elegant shrub when in flower. 



VIII. TRUNCA'RIA (from trtmco, to lop off; limb of calyx 

 truncate). D. C. prod. 3. p. 106. 



LIN. SYST. Decdndria, Monogynia. Tube of calyx cylin- 

 drical, hardly turbinate ; limb truncate, nearly entire. Petals 5, 

 ovate. Stamens 10; anthers elongated, beaked, opening by 1 

 pore, without any auricles. Ovarium altogether free in the bot- 

 tom of the calyx, 1 0-sided, and somewhat cup-shaped at the apex. 

 Style fliform. Stigma hemispherical. Fruit unknown. A 

 climbing Brazilian shrub. It differs from Medinilla in the qui- 

 nary number of its parts, and in the free ovarium ; from Aliconia 

 in the cylindrical calyx ; and from Meriania in the absence of 

 bracteas to the flowers. 



1 T. CARYOPHYLUE'A (D. C. 1. c.) branchlets bluntly tetra- 

 gonal ; petioles and peduncles nearly glabrous ; leaves oval, 

 somewhat cuneated at the base, and mucronately acuminated at 

 the apex, 5-nerved, quite entire, ciliated, rather pilose on both 

 surfaces ; thyrse terminal, elongated, having its branchlets 3- 

 flowered, with some bristles under the flowers holding the place 

 of bracteas. Tj . w . S. Native of Brazil, in the province of 

 Para. Melastoma or Meriania truncata, Schrank et Mart. mss. 

 Flower-bud or alabastrum almost like that of the clove. Calyx 

 quite glabrous. 



CTote-budded Truncaria. Shrub cl. 



Cult. For culture and propagation see Meriania, p. 733. A 

 plant worthy of cultivation. 



IX. RHYNCHANTHE'RA (from pvx x e, rhynchos, a beak, 

 and avSrjpa, anthera, an anther ; anthers terminated by a long 

 beak each). D. C. prod. 3. p. 106. Rhexia species, Bonpl. 

 Schrank et Mart. mss. Ser. mss. Proboscidla, Rich. herb. 



LIN. SYST. Decdndria, Monogynia. Tube of calyx ovate- 

 globose ; lobes 5, linear or setaceous. Petals o, obovate. Sta- 

 mens 10, 5 of which bear ovate, long beaked anthers, having 

 their connectives long and auricled at the base ; the other 5 are 

 castrated and smaller. Ovarium ovate-globose, glabrous. Capsule 

 3, but usually 5-celled. Seeds angular or oblong. Sub-shrubs 

 or herbs, natives of South America. Branches terete or bluntly 

 tetragonal, hairy or pilose. Leaves cordate or oblong, 5-9- 

 nerved. Peduncles axillary, cymose, usually disposed in a ter- 

 minal thyrse. Flowers purple, not involved by bracteas when 

 young. 



* Leaves cordate. 



1 R. GRANDIFLORA (D. C. prod. 3. p. 107.) branches terete, 

 and are, as well as the petioles, clothed with glandular pili ; 

 leaves on long petioles, cordate, somewhat denticulated, hairy, 

 9-nerved ; flowers tern at the tops of the branchlets ; tube of 

 calyx subglobose, shorter than the teeth, which are setaceous. 

 fj . S. Native of Cayenne, and near the Orinoco, in wet mea- 

 dows. Melastoma grandiflora, Aubl. guian. 1. p. 414. t. 160. 

 Rhexia grandiflora, Bonpl. rhex. p. 26. t. 1 1. Osbeckia Auble- 

 tiana, Spreng. syst. 2. p. 311. Tube of calyx purple. Genitals 

 hardly longer than the petals. Five of the stamens are fertile, 

 but the 5 sterile ones reduced to threads. Calyx hispid. Per- 

 haps the plant of Bonpland is the same as that of Aublet. 



Great-jlonered Rhynchanthera. Shrub 3 to 5 feet. 



2 R. NOVEMNE'HVIA (D. C. 1. c.) shrub oppositely branched ; 

 branches nearly terete, beset with glandular bristles ; leaves pe- 

 tiolate, cordate, ovate, somewhat acuminated, crenated, 9-nerved, 

 hardly pilose above, but villous beneath ; flowers solitary, in the 

 axils of the bracteas, almost sessile, disposed in something like 

 racemes ; tube of calyx hairy, globose, equal in length to the 

 lobes, which arc linear-setaceous. J; . S. Native of Brazil, in 

 marshes in woods. Flowers purple. The 5 longest anthers 

 have a flat long connective each, and the 5 shortest ones have a 

 terete short connective each. Capsule nearly globose, 3-celled, 

 3-valved. Seeds ovate, reticulately dotted. 



Nine-nerved-\e'dvedi Rhynchanthera. Shrub 2 to 4 feet. 



3 R. DICHOTOMA (D. C. 1. c.) shrubby ; branches somewhat 

 tetragonal ; petioles and calyxes rather hispid ; leaves petiolate, 

 cordate, ovate, acute, serrated, 7-9-nerved, puberulous on both 

 surfaces ; peduncles axillary and terminal, panicled, dichoto- 

 mous, leafy ; tube of calyx ovate ; lobes subulate-lanceolate ; 5 of 

 the anthers are acuminated by a beak, longer than the connective, 

 which is auricled at the base. Jj . S. Native of Brazil, in 

 marshes about Rio Janeiro ; and of St. Christopher. Melast. 

 dich6toma, Desv. in Lam. Diet. 4, p. 41. Rhexia Christopho- 

 reana, Schrank et Mart. mss. Petioles 9-10 lines long. The 

 pili on the upper side of the leaves are scattered and largish, 

 under side villous along the nerves and veins. The hairs of the 

 calyx often glandular. Seeds oblong. 



Dichotomous Rhynchanthera. Shrub 3 to 5 feet. 



4 R. CORDA'TA (D. C. 1. c.) suffruticose, simple ; stem nearly 

 terete, hispid from long spreading hairs ; petioles short, slender, 

 hispid ; leaves cordate, ciliately-serrated, acute, 7-nerved, setose 

 on both surfaces ; thyrse panicled, elongated, terminal ; rachis, 

 calyxes, and peduncles beset with glandular hairs. Jj . S. Na- 



