758 



MELASTOMACE^E. XXXIV. OSBECKIA. 



Manij-florvered Arthrostemma. Sh. 3 feet. 



Cult. The shrubby species of this genus should be culti- 

 vated and propagated in the manner of the species of Melds- 

 toma, p. 764. The annual species in the manner of those of 

 Centradenia, p. 766. 



XXXIV. OSBE'CKIA (in honour of Peter Osbeck, a 

 Swedish clergyman and naturalist, author of Dagbock Oefer en 

 Ostendyck resa, 1 vol. 8vo. Stockholm, 1757). Lin. gen. no. 

 467. D. Don, in mem. soc. worn. 4. p. 292. D. C. prod. 3. 

 p. 138. 



LIN. SYST. Octc-Deciindrin, Monogijuia. Tube of calyx 

 ovate, usually clothed with stellate bristles or down ; lobes 4-5, 

 permanent or deciduous : bearing appendages between the lobes 

 on the outside of various sizes and forms. Petals 4-5. Sta- 

 mens 8-10; filaments glabrous ; anthers nearly equal, terminat- 

 ing in short beaks, and having their connectives furnished with 

 ^ short auricles at the base. Ovarium bristly at the apex. 

 ( 'npsule 4-5-celled. Seeds cochleate. Herbs, but usually sub- 

 shrubs, natives of America, Africa, and Asia. Leaves quite en- 

 tire, 3-5-nerved. Flowers terminal. This genus is perhaps 

 divisible in several genera instead of sections. 



SECT. I. MICRO'LEPIS (from /jicpoe, mikros, small, and \tirtf, 

 lepis, a scale; so named on account of the small scale-like ap- 

 pendages between the lobes of the calyx). D. C. prod. 3. p. 139. 

 Tube of calyx ovate-oblong, urceolate, and constricted at the 

 apex; limb 5-cleft : teeth deciduous. Stamens 10. Appendages 

 between the lobes of the calyx small and ciliated. Species all 

 South American. 



1 O. URCEOLA'RIS (D. C. prod. 3. p. 139.) plant almost her- 

 baceous ; stems tetragonal ; leaves petiolate, oval, quite entire, 5- 

 nerved, clothed with villous tomentum on both surfaces ; panicles 

 terminal and axillary ; calyx 5-toothed, with an ovate tube, which 

 is constricted under the teeth ; appendages between the teeth of 

 the calyx short and lacerately ciliated ; petals ciliated. I/ . ? S. 

 Native of Brazil, near Rio Janeiro. Rhexia urceolaris, Schrank 

 et Mart. mss. Petioles 6 lines long. Leaves 4 inches long. 

 Petals purple. Anthers linear-falcate, beaked, length of fila- 

 ments : having their connectives short, and tumid at the articula- 

 tion. Seeds cochleate, truncate at the base, striated longitudi- 

 nally. 



t/rceofa/fi-calyxed Osbeckia. PL 1 foot. 



2 O. JUCU'NDA (D. C. 1. c.) shrubby, glabrous ; branches 

 terete ; leaves petiolate, ovate-lanceolate, acuminated, quite en- 

 tire, 3-nerved, or somewhat 5-nerved ; panicle terminal ; pedun- 

 cles and calyxes clothed with furfuraceous down ; tube of calyx 

 urceolate ; petals oblong. T? . S. Native of Brazil, in shady 

 woods near Almada, in the province of Bahia. Rhexia jucunda, 

 Schrank et Mart. mss. Leaves 6-7 inches long, and 2 broad. 

 Petals white, 3 or 4 times longer than the calycine teeth. Sta- 

 mens 10 ; filaments bluish. Anthers yellow, elongated, with 

 short beaks : 5 of which have their connectives drawn out into a 

 little lateral sack, and those of the other 5 are not drawn out. 



Pleasant Osbeckia. Shrub 1 to 2 feet. 



3 O. PITYROPHY'LLA (D. C. 1. c.) shrubby ; leaves on very 

 short petioles, oblong-ovate, acuminated, 3-nerved, glabrous 

 above and shining, with impressed veins, clothed with white to- 

 mentum beneath, as well as on the calyxes ; cymes few-flowered, 

 terminal ; lobes of calyx acute, 3 times shorter than the ovate 

 tube ; petals acuminated. Tj . S. Native of Brazil, on high 

 dry mountains, in the province of Minas Geraes. Rhexia pity- 

 rophylla, Mart. herb. Rhexia acuminata, Schrank, mss. Shrub 

 branched ; branches tetragonal, with separable bark. Leaves 10 

 lines long. Anthers falcate, without any beak. Style very 

 long. Ovarium beset with small bristles at the apex. Ap- 



pendages of calyx small. Tomentum velvety. Fruit and seeds 

 unknown. 



Scurfy-leaved Osbeckia. Sh. 1 to 2 feet. 



4 O. OLEJEFOLIA (D. C. 1. c.) suffVuticose ; branches hardly 

 tetragonal, clothed with powdery tomentum ; leaves petiolate, 

 oblong-lanceolate, quite entire, 3-nerved, clothed with white vel- 

 vety tomentum beneath, glabrous above ; thyrse terminal ; brae- 

 teas hiding the calyx when young ; calyx velvety from small 

 stellate down : lobes or teeth 5 or 6, short, oblong ; anthers 

 rather dissimilar. Ij . S. Native of Brazil, in the province of 

 St. Paul, in elevated dry fields. Rhexia oleaef olia, Schrank et 

 Mart, mss. Petals purple, minutely ciliated. Anthers linear, 

 falcate, long, beaked : having their connectives drawn out into a 

 ligula each, which are sometimes bifurcate, and sometimes some- 

 what 2-lobed. Leaves 15-20 lines long, and 6-7 broad. 



Var. /3, quatcrnifolia (D. C. 1. c.) young branches tetra- 

 gonal, furfuraceous, and bearing glandular pili ; leaves on short 

 petioles, 3 or 4 in a whorl, oblong, blunt at the base, and acute 

 at the apex, 5-nerved, minutely dotted above, but clothed with 

 white furfuraceous velvety down beneath. Tj . S. Native of 

 Brazil, in the province of Minas Geraes, at the sides of woods. 

 Rhexia quaternifolia, Schrank et Mart. mss. Petals purple, 

 obovate-oblong. Anthers long, linear, falcate, beaked : 5 of 

 which have forked connectives. Ovarium bristly at the apex. 

 Down on calyx stellate. 



Olive-leaved Osbeckia. Sh. 1 to 2 feet. 



SECT. II. CH^TO'LEPIS (from x atT 1> chaite, a bristle, and 

 XtTrtt;, lepis, a scale; there are stiff bristles between the lobes of 

 the calyx, which hold the place of the appendages). D. C. prod. 

 3. p. 140. Lobes of calyx 4, with as many stiff simple bristles 

 between the lobes on the outside, holding the place of appendages. 

 American plants. 



5 O. MICROPHY'LLA (D. C. 1. c.) shrubby, much branched ; 

 branches terete, scabrous from strigae ; leaves on short petioles, 

 ovate, quite entire, 5-nerved, scabrous on both surfaces from ad- 

 pressed strigae, pale beneath ; flowers solitary, subcorymbose, 

 pedicellate ; tube of calyx ovate, bristly at the apex ; ovarium 

 furnished with 8 bristles at the apex. Ij . S. Native of Guada- 

 loupe, on the mountains ; and near Santa Fe de Bogota. Rhexia 

 microphylla, Bonpl. rhex. t. 2. Flowers yellow. Anthers ob- 

 tuse. Petals obovate. Lobes of calyx, as well as the appen- 

 dages, permanent. 



Small-leaved Osbeckia. Sh. 1 foot. 



SECT. III. PTERO'LEPIS (from irrepov, pteron, a wing, and 

 XfTrif , lepis, a scale ; in reference to the appendages between the 

 lobes of the calyx being pectinated). D. C. prod. 3. p. 140. Sta- 

 mens8-10. Calyx 4-5-cleft; lobes permanent, with the appendages 

 between the lobes elongated and pectinated. American plants. 



* Flomers 5-cleft, decandrous. 



6 O. PARNASSIFOLIA (D. C. prod. 3. p. 140.) shrubby, clothed 

 in every part with silky villi ; branches terete ; leaves sessile, 

 orbicular, rather cordate at the base, quiteentire, 5-nerved ; flowers 

 almost sessile, axillary, usually solitary, but sometimes terminal and 

 aggregate ; calyx very hairy, with villous bristle-formed appen- 

 dages between the lobes, and 5 ciliated coloured lobes. Jj . S. 

 Native of Brazil, in stony grassy places, in the province of 

 Bahia. Rhexia parnassif olia, Mart, et Schrank, mss. Lobes 

 of calyx purplish, linear. oblong. Petals purple, obovate-cu- 

 neated. Style a little longer than the calyx. Stamens un- 

 known. Young leaves mucronate. Capsule 1-5-celled. Seeds 

 cochleate. 



Parnassia-leaved Osbeckia. Shrub. 



7 O. STRIPHNOCALYX (D. C. 1. c.) shrubby ; branches nearly 

 terete, and are, as well as the peduncles and under side of the 



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