80i 



MELASTOMACE^:. 



terete, greenish, glabrous, rather compressed above, and beset 

 with rather powdery villi ; leaves obovate-lanceolate, denticu- 

 lated, glabrous, smooth, 3-5-nerved ; spikes terminal, racemose, 

 bipartite; flowers secund, decandrous; calyx somewhat cam- 

 panulate, 5-toothed, powdery ; anthers linear, curved, furnished 

 at the base on one side with a short brown auricle ; style length 

 of stamens, but longer than the corolla; berry globose, about 

 the size of a mustard seed. ^ . S. Native of the Island of 

 Trinidad. 



Greenish Melastoma. Shrub small. 



20 M. RI'GIDUM (Swartz, prod. p. 69. fl. ind. occ. 2. p. 768.) 

 shrub with very straight tetragonal branches, clothed with rusty 

 scurfy down towards the apex ; leaves ovate, cordate, denticu- 

 lated, petiolate, 3-nerved, stiff, rather membranous, glabrous, 

 brittle ; racemes terminal, many-flowered, beset with rusty 

 hairs ; flowers decandrous ; calyx ovate, hairy, 5-toothed ; teeth 

 short, obtuse, stiff; petals ovate, white ; stamens longer than the 

 corolla ; filaments keeled on the back ; style short, thick, 

 striated ; stigma obtuse ; berries roundish, clothed with rusty 

 farina. t? . S. Native of Jamaica, on the highest mountains. 



Stiff Melastoma. Shrub. 



21 M. CiiRisTonroRiA'NUM (Hamilt. prod. fl. ind. occ. p. 37.) 

 stems bushy, glabrous, erect ; leaves obovate, acute, quite en- 

 tire, green above and white beneath, triple-nerved ; flowers de- 

 candrous, panicled, terminal ; peduncles rather trichotomous. 

 T< . S. Native of the Island of St. Christopher. Flowers 

 small, red. 



St. Christopher Melastoma. Shrub. 



22 M. SESSII.II LOKUM (Lin. spec. 558.) leaves oblong-spatu- 

 late, sessile, entire, 3-nerved, tomentose beneath ; fascicles of 

 flowers scattered. T? S. Native of Jamaica. Pluk. phyt. t. 

 249. f. 2. 



Sessile-Jlowered Melastoma. Shrub small. 



23 M. BRACHIA^TUM (Vahl, eclog. fasc. 3. p. 24.) branches 

 smooth, terete ; branchlets compressed, clothed with rusty pow- 

 dery down ; leaves elliptic, attenuated, denticulated, glabrous, 

 5-nerved ; nerves powdery beneath ; spikes bipartite, racemose, 

 secund ; calyx about the size of a black pepper, sulcated, glo- 

 bose when the fruit is ripe ; petals small, obovate ; flowers de- 

 candrous, fy . S. Native of Montserrat. 



Armed Melastoma. Shrub 4 to 6 feet. 



24 M. STRIA'TUM (Vahl, eclog. fasc. 3. p. 14.) branches gla- 

 brous, powdery and compressed towards the top ; leaves ovate- 

 oblong, attenuated, glabrous, toothed, 3-5-nerved ; racemes ter- 

 minal, compound ; pedicels 3-flowered ; calyx glabrous, trun- 

 cate or 3-lobed ; lobes rounded ; petals 5, wedge-shaped ; 

 stamens length of the petals. fj . S. Native of Montserrat. 



Striated Melastoma. Shrub 4 to 6 feet. 



B. Species natives of Guiana. 



25 M. PLEUROCA'RPUM (E. Meyer, in act. bonn. 12. p. 795.) 

 branches terete, a little striated ; leaves oblong, acuminated, 

 serrulated, ciliated, truncate at the base, 5-nerved, rather pilose; 

 panicle terminal ; flowers glomerate, decandrous ; calyx gla- 

 brous, 10-ribbed, 5-toothed; anthers with long beaks, bicallous 

 at the base ; berry 3-celled, crowned by an entire margin. 17 . S. 

 Native of Surinam. Petals obovate, concave. 



Ribbed-fruited Melastoma. Shrub. 



26 M. FRA'GILE (Lin. fil. suppl. 236.) leaves ovate, serrated, 

 rather petiolate, 5-nerved, smooth, ciliated, very brittle ; lower 

 peduncles trifid ; pedicels usually 2-flowered ; flowers decan- 

 drous, rather secund ; berry pea-formed, glabrous. Tj . S. Na- 

 tive of Brazil, Mexico, and Surinam. 



Brittle-leaved Melastoma. Shrub. 



27 M. BRU'NNEUM (Vahl, eclog. fasc. 3. p. 19.) shrub with 

 terete branches, and tetragonal branchlets ; leaves oval, ciliated, 



scabrous above, but hoary beneath, petiolate, S-5-nerved ; 

 flowers decandrous, aggregate beneath the leaves, rather pedun- 

 culate and strigose; calyx oblong, with rufescent stripes, and 

 with 5 ovate obtuse segments ; petals roundish, length of the 

 segments of the calyx ; stamens length of corolla ; style clavate, 

 crowned by an obtuse stigma. T? . S. Native of Guiana. 

 .Broron-calyxed Melastoma. Shrub. 



28 M. GROSSULARIOIDES (Lin. spec. 558.) leaves roundish- 

 ovate, acuminated, denticulated, 3-nerved, glabrous on both sur- 

 faces ; flowers decandrous. Jj . S. Native of Surinam. Pluk. 

 aim. 40. t. 249. f. 4. 



Gjosebcrry-like Melastoma. Shrub. 



29 M. ICOSA'NDRUM (Swartz, herb, ex Wikst. fl. guad. in 

 acad. sc. stockh. 1827.) leaves ovate or lanceolate, acuminated, 

 crenulated, 3-nerved, glabrous ; branches of panicle 3-parted; 

 flowers icosandrotis. Jj . S. Native of Guadaloupe. 



Icosandrous Melastoma. Shrub. 



30 M. PUNCTULA'TUM (Swartz, herb, ex Wikst. 1. c.) leaves 

 opposite, ovate, acuminated, quite entire, 5-nerved, glabrous, 

 full of elevated dots beneath ; cymes terminal, contracted, few- 

 flowered ; calyx glabrous, S-crenated. fj . S. Native of Gua- 

 daloupe. 



Z)oe</-leaved Melastoma. Shrub. 



31 M. FARINULE'NTUM (Swartz, herb, ex Wikst. 1. c.) leaves 

 scattered, ovate, attenuated, quite entire, 3-nerved, beset with 

 adpressed dots beneath, rather mealy ; raceme straight, trifidly 

 3-parted ; flowers pedicellate, decandrous. ^ . S. Native of 

 Guadaloupe. 



Mealy Melastoma. Shrub. 



C. Species natives of Brazil. 



32 M. RA'DULUM (Hoffmanns, verz. 1826. p. 159.) stem 

 terete, somewhat articulated, bluntly 4-winged ; leaves petiolate, 

 ovate, acuminated, 3-nerved, somewhat denticulated, rough 

 above, and beset with decumbent hairs beneath ; flowers cy- 

 mose ; calyx ovate, somewhat pentagonal, beset with somewhat 

 imbricate tubercles and adpressed hairs. T? . S. Native of 

 Brazil. Perhaps a species of Lasidndra or Macairea. 



Rasp-leaved Melastoma. Shrub. 



33 M. BRASILIE'NSE (Spreng. syst. 2. p. 297.) leaves lanceo- 

 late, acuminated, quite entire, hoary beneath, as well as the 

 branches and calyxes from stellate down ; branches of panicle 

 divaricate. T? . S. Native of Brazil. 



Brazilian Melastoma. Shrub. 



34 M. SERRULA V TUM (Spreng. syst. 2. p. 300. but not of Pav.) 

 leaves oblong, acute, serrulately ciliated, clothed with fulvous 

 hairs on both surfaces, and on the branches ; panicle terminal, 

 trichotomous, with divaricate branches. ^ . S. Native of 

 Brazil. 



Serrulated-leaved Melastoma. Shrub. 



35 M. HETERONEI/RUM (Schrank et Mart, mss.) shrubby, gla- 

 brous, rufescent, with terete branches ; leaves oval-oblong, 

 tapering much into the petiole, acuminated at the apex, triple- 

 nerved or almost quintuple-nerved ; flowers almost sessile, 

 crowded, axillary ; fruit globose ; calycine lobes 5-6, deciduous. 



fy . S. Native of Brazil, in the woods of Tapura. The nerves 

 on the lower leaves are nearly marginal, and those on the upper 

 leaves are as in Miconia spondyldntha, rising far above the base, 

 and somewhat alternate. Petals and stamens unknown. Per- 

 haps a proper genus. 



Variable-nerved Melastoma. Shrub. 



D. Species natives of New Grenada. 



36 M. sQ.UAMui.6suM (Smith in Rees' cycl. vol. 23.) leaves 

 elliptic, obtuse, 3-nerved, entire, smooth above, but covered with 

 scale-like hairs beneath ; flowers panicled, terminal, dense ; 



