MELASTOMACE^:. XXXII. CH/ETOGASTRA. XXXIII. ARTHROSTEMMA. 



755 



Rhexia canescens, Bonpl. rhex. t. 6. Flowers dark purple or 

 violaceous. Calyx red. 



Canescent Chaetogastra. Shrub 3 feet. 



23 C. SARMENTOSA (D. C. 1. c.) shrubby ; branches climbing 

 almost terete, villous ; leaves on short petioles, oval, somewhat 

 cordate, serrulated, 7-nerved, villous ; flowers terminal, approx- 

 imating by threes, on very short pedicels ; calyx villous, with 

 the tube about equal in length to the lobes ; connectives of 

 anthers long, furnished with 2 tubercles each at the base. 

 Tj . ^j S. Native of Peru, in hot places near Cuenca and St. 

 Felipe. Rhexia sarmentosa, Bonpl. rhex. t. 10. Flowers large, 

 of a reddish violaceous colour. 



Sarmentose Chsetogastra. Shrub cl. 



24 C. MURICA'TA (D. C. 1. c.) shrubby ; branches, peduncles, 

 and calyxes pilose ; leaves petiolate, broadly ovate, somewhat 

 cordate, hardly acute, 5-nerved, beset with bristles above, which 

 are blistered at the base, but clothed with silky tomentum be- 

 neath ; flowers terminal, solitary ; anthers each furnished with a 

 slender appendage, which is biclentate at the base. Tj . S. Na- 

 tive of cold places on Mount Purase, near Popayan. Rhexia 

 muricata, Bonpl. rhex. t. 1. Habit almost of Cistus salvifolius. 

 Flowers large, purple, or violaceous. 



Muricated Chaetogastra. Shrub 4 to 5 feet. 



25 C. STRIGOSA (D. C. 1. c.) suffruticose ; branches tetra- 

 gonal, beset with adpressed bristles ; leaves on short petioles, 

 ovate, acute, hardly 3-nerved, quite entire, with a few thick, 

 scattered, adpressed bristles on the upper surface, and 

 scabrous on the nerves beneath ; cymes terminal, peduncu- 

 late, few-flowered ; tube of calyx hispid, with 5 short, acute, 

 lobes. Jj . S. Native of Guadaloupe, on the top of the Sul- 

 phur Mountain, among sphagnum ; and on the mountains of 

 Montserrat and Martinique. Melastoma strigosa, Lin. fil. 

 suppl. p. 236. Mel. ciliata, Desr. in Lam. diet. 4. p. 49. 

 Osbeckia ornata, Swartz, fl. ind. occ. p. 647. Rhexia incon- 

 stans, Vahl, elc. 1. p. 37. Rhexia strigosa, Rich. act. soc. hist, 

 nat. par. 1791. p. 108. Rhexia ornata, Rich, in Bonpl. rhex. 

 t. 26. R. chamaecistus, Sieb. pi. exsic. mart. no. 297. Flowers 

 pale purple, bractless. Anthers yellow, obtuse, almost without 

 auricles at the base. Capsule ovate, 5-celled, bristly at the 

 apex. There are varieties of this plant having flowers either 

 with 4 or 5 petals, smaller, and larger. 



Strigose Chaetogastra. Sh. 6 to 8 feet. 



26 C. LEPiDfriA (D. C. 1. c.) shrubby ; branchlets bluntly 

 tetragonal, and are, as well as the petioles, leaves, peduncles, and 

 calyxes scabrous from imbricated scaly bristles ; leaves petio- 

 late, oblong-lanceolate, 5-nerved, hardly serrulated ; cymes pe- 

 dunculate, terminal ; flowers few, almost sessile, crowded ; calyx 

 with an obovate tube, and obtuse lobes ; connectives of anthers 

 hardly evident, and almost without any auricles at the base. ^ 

 S. Native of Peru, in cold places near Jaen de Bracamoros. 

 Rhexia lepidota, Bonpl. rhex. t. 15. Flowers purple or viola- 

 ceous. Capsule globose, bristly, and denticulated at the apex. 



Lepidolted Chaetogastra. Sh. 6 feet. 



27 C. CARDINA'LIS (D. C. 1. c.) branchlets somewhat tetra- 

 gonal, very hairy, and very leafy ; leaves almostsessile, orbicularly 

 reniform, quite entire, 5-7-nerved, strigose above, but clothed 

 with silky hairs beneath ; flowers terminal, crowded, almost 

 sessile ; calyx hispid, with a campanulate tube, rather 

 longer than the lobes, which are bluntish ; connectives of an- 

 thers hardly produced, emarginate. 17 . S. Native of Brazil, 

 in hot places near Gran-Para. Rhexia cardinalis, Bonpl. rhex. 

 t. 37. Melastoma cardinalis, Spreng. syst. 2. p. 298. Calyx 

 coloured inside. Flowers of a rose purple-colour. 



Cardinal Chaetogastra. Sh. 2 to 4 feet. 



28 C. STR'ICTA (D. C. 1. c.) branches terete, velvety from short 

 down ; leaves on short petioles, oval-lanceolate, 3-nerved, quite 



entire, rather hairy ; flowers nodding, bibracteate ; calyx cam- 

 panulate, rather villous ; connectives of anthers drawn out into 

 2 bristles, which are capitate at the apex. \i . S. Native of 

 Peru, in cold places on Mount Purase, and near Loxa. Rhexia 

 stricta, Bonpl. rhex. t. 8. but not of Pursh. Shrub much 

 branched, straight. Flowers purple or violaceous. Calyxes 

 and bracteas purplish. Petals ciliated. Ovarium bristly. 

 There is a variety of this species having 4-petalled flowers. 

 Straight Chaetogastra. Sh. 4 to 5 feet. 



29 C. ECHINA'TA (D. C. prod. 3. p. 135.) branches terete, 

 and are, as well as the peduncles, petioles, and calyxes beset 

 with thick adpressed stiff' pili ; leaves ovate, 5-nerved, woolly 

 beneath, echinated above, quite entire ; flowers inclinate ; tube 

 of calyx ovate, about equal in length to the lobes, which are lan- 

 ceolate ; connectives of anthers thick at the base. Tj . S. Na- 

 tive of Peru, on the tops of hills. Rhexia echinata, Ruiz et Pav. 

 fl. per. 3. p. 85. t. 319. f. 6. Flowers large, spreading, of a 

 violaceous purple-colour. Capsule 5-celled, bristly at the apex. 

 Seeds cochleate. 



Echinated Chaetogastra. Sh. 2 to 3 feet. 



30 C. CE'RNUA (D. C. 1. c.) branches tetragonal, rough at the 

 angles ; leaves on short petioles, oval, rather crenulated, 5- 

 nerved, often hispid along the nerves ; flowers pedicellate, 

 usually 3 together, terminal, drooping ; tube of calyx cam- 

 panulate, one-half shorter than the lobes, which are linear- 

 lanceolate. J? . S. Native of Peru, on the Andes, on 

 Mount Purase near Popayan. Rhexia cernua, Bonpl. rhex. t. 

 13. Osbeckia cernua, Spreng. syst. 2. p. 312. Petals oval, 

 violaceous. Calyx violaceous. Capsule 5-celled. 



Drooping-fiowered Chaetogastra. Sh. 5 to 6 feet. 



SECT. III. BRACTEA'RIA (from bractca, a bractea or prop ; in 

 reference to the flowers, which are furnished with 6 bracteas 

 each at the base). D. C. prod. 3. p. 135. Calyx with an ob- 

 ovate pilose tube, girded at the base by 6 free bracteas, which 

 are arranged in 3 series ; lobes 5, obtuse. Anthers hardly bi- 

 auriculate at the base. 



31 C. CONFE'RTA (D. C. 1. c.) suffruticose, much branched; 

 branchlets hairy ; leaves on short petioles, crowded, small, oval, 

 obtuse, 3-nerved, beset with adpressed bristles ; flowers termi- 

 nal, solitary, drooping ; bracteas 6, involving the flower ; calyx 

 pilose, with 5 bluntish teeth. Tj . S. Native of Peru, in cold 

 places near Loxa. Rhexia conferta, Bonpl. rhex. t. 20. Petals 

 roundish, violaceous, almost conniving into a tube. Capsule 

 globose, denticulated from 5 bristle-like teeth. 



Crowded Chsetogastra. Sh. 3 feet. 



Cult. For culture and propagation see Lasiandra, p. 752. 



XXXIII. ARTHROSTE'MMA (from apV> art/iron, a 

 joint, and ort/ujua, for arrj^ov, stemon, a stamen ; in reference to 

 their stamens or connectives being jointed). Pav. ex D. Don, 

 mem. soc. wern. 4. p. 298. D. C. prod. 3. p. 135. Melanium, 

 Rich. herb. 



LIN. SYST. Octandria, Monogynia. Tube of calyx turbinate 

 or campanulate, usually clothed with bristles, pili, or scales ; 

 lobes 4, lanceolate, permanent, without any appendages be- 

 tween them. Petals 4. Stamens 8 ; filaments quite glabrous. 

 Anthers oblong, opening by one pore at the apex, furnished with 

 longish connectives, which are biauriculated at the base. Ova- 

 rium bristly at the apex. Capsule 4-celled. Seeds cochleate. 

 Herbs or subshrubs, very variable in habit, all natives of 

 South America. The genus is composed, as it now stands, of 

 a heterogeneous mass of species, which may hereafter be divided 

 into many genera, instead of sections. 



SECT. I. CH^ETOPE'TALUM (from \euTij, chaite, a bristle, and 

 , petalon, a petal ; in reference to the petals, which are 

 5 D 2 



