MELASTOMACE^E. 



805 



k calyx turbinate, 10-ribbed, bluntly 5-toothed, scaly; petals 

 roundish, yellow ; berry furrowed, villous. ^ . S. Native of 

 New Granada. Perhaps a species of Ddvya. 

 Scaly Melastoma. Shrub. 



37 M. LIGU'STRINUM (Smith in Rees' cycl. vol. 23.) stem and 

 branches glabrous ; leaves oval, obtuse, entire, 3-nerved, gla- 

 brous, petiolate, shining above, yellowish beneatli ; flowers ter- 

 minal, panicled, dense ; calyx hemispherical, glabrous, striated, 

 broadly and bluntly toothed ; petals obtuse, small, white or red- 

 dish ; anthers obtuse ; style obtuse ; stigma hollow ; berry 

 small, yellow. ^ . S. Native of New Granada. Allied to M. 

 squamulosa ex Smith. 



Pricet-ltke Melastoma. Shrub. 



38 M. GROSSUM (Lin. fil. suppl. 236.) branches stiffish, terete, 

 hispid ; leaves quite entire, 5-nerved, rather cordate, covered 

 with scabrous tomentum ; flowers large, terminal ; calyx stri- 

 gose ; petals rather pilose on the outside. J? . S. Native of 

 New Granada. 



Large Melastoma. Shrub. 



39 M. IBAGUE'NSE (Humb. et Bonpl. mel. 1. p. 105. t. 45.) 

 stems weak, flexuous ; leaves lanceolate, awnless, ciliated, 3- 

 nerved, clothed with scurfy down and rufescent hairs beneath, as 

 well as on the branchlets ; raceme terminal, loose, few-flowered ; 

 flowers decandrous ; calyx rather globose, with 5 little teeth ; 

 berry small, globose, 3-celled. Pj . S. Native of New Granada, 

 on Mount Quindiu, near Ibague. Genitals unknown. Perhaps 

 a species of Clidemia or Tschudya. 



Ibague Melastoma. Shrub 10 feet. 



40 M. GLOBIFLORUM (Cham, et Schlecht. in Linnaea. 5. p. 

 564.) clothed with hairy tomentum ; branches terete; leaves pe- 

 tiolate, 5-nerved, ovate-elliptic, acuminated, hairy above, but 

 yellowish beneath ; racemes terminal ; its branches bearing bun- 

 dles of flowers at their tops ; calyx urceolate, 5-toothed ; petals 

 5, emarginate ; stamens 10 ; anthers opening by one pore, with- 

 out appendages ; ovarium glabrous ; style thickish ; stigma dot- 

 formed ; berry 5-celled, many-seeded, crowned by the teeth of 

 the calyx ; seeds yellowish, 3 -sided, with a blackish hylum. 

 Tj . S. Native of Mexico, in woods about Jalapa. Tomentum 

 on the stem, tops of branches, and under side of the leaves 

 stellate, and on the upper side simple. Berry hairy. 



Globe-Jlon'ered Melastoma. Shrub 4 to 6 feet ? 



41 M. SCORPIOIDES (Cham, et Schlecht. in Linnaca. 5. p. 5C4.) 

 leaves on short petioles, membranous, obovate, acuminated, gla- 

 brous above, but clothed with scurfy down beneath, 5-nerved or 

 triple-nerved; racemes terminal, elongated, constantly composed 

 of twisted cymes ; flowers almost sessile, secund, small, decan- 

 drous ; anthers opening by one pore, shortly auricled at the base; 

 stigma peltately funnel-shaped. I? . S. Native of Mexico, at 

 Cuesta Grande de Chiconquiaco. Down on the branches and 

 lower surface of leaves rather scurfy, intermixed with a few fine 

 stellate down. 



Scorpion-like Melastoma. Shrub. 



42 M. CORNOIDES (Cham, et Schlecht. Linnaea. 5. p. 563.) 

 glabrous ; branches terete ; leaves petiolate, oval-lanceolate, 

 acuminated, 5-nerved, puberulous, ciliated, membranous ; cymes 

 axillary, or nearly terminal, trichotomous, loose, and few-flow- 

 ered, having the branches filiform, bibracteolate ; berries globose, 

 5-ribbed ; ribs running down from the teeth of the calyx, fj . S. 

 Native of Mexico, near Jalapa in woods. Habit of Clidemia 

 agrentis. Seeds small, yellowish, with a black nearly linear 

 hylum. Stamens 10; anthers not appendiculated, opening by 

 one pore at the apex. Perhaps a species of Clidemia. 



Dog mood- like Melastoma. Shrub 2 to 3 ft. ? 



43 M. FURFURA'CEUM (Vahl, eclog. fasc. 3. p. 13.) leaves ob- 

 long, glabrous, smooth, quite entire, petiolate, 3-nerved, acumi- 

 nated ; branches and peduncles clothed with scurfy tomentum ; 



racemes simple ; pedicels 3-flowered ; flowers almost sessile, 

 decandrous ; calyx 5-toothed ; teeth minute ; petals 5, oblong ; 

 style length of the stamens. (7 . S. Native of South Ame- 

 rica. 



Scurfy Melastoma. Shrub. 



* * * The number of stamens and parts of the flower are un- 

 known in the following species. 



44 M. MYRICOIDES (Desr. in Lam. diet. 4. p. 51.) smoothish ; 

 branches tetragonal, knotted at the joints ; leaves ovate, smooth- 

 ish, somewhat acuminated, denticulated, 3-5-nerved, small, 

 almost sessile, rather villous beneatli ; flowers trichotomously 

 panicled ; fruit globose, glabrous, granular. Tj . S. Native of 

 the Antilles. 



Myrica-Kke Melastoma. Shrub. 



45 M. THYRSOI'DEUM (Vahl, eclog. fasc. 3. p. 13.) glabrous ; 

 leaves oblong -ovate, attenuated at both ends, glandularly denti- 

 culated, 3-nerved ; racemes terminal, decompound ; peduncles 

 tetragonally compressed ; flowers small ; bracteas linear ; calyx 

 globose, truncate. Jj . S. Native of Montserrat. 



Thyrse-likc-ftovfered Melastoma. Shrub. 



46 M. CU'PREUM (Smith in Rees' cycl. vol. 23.) leaves oval- 

 elliptic, acute, entire, on short petioles, 3-nerved, smoothish 

 above, but clothed with rufous tomentum beneath, as well as the 

 petioles and peduncles ; flowers dichotomously panicled, very 

 numerous, and very minute ; calyxes glabrous. fj . S. Native 

 about the Caraccas ? 



Cooper-coloured Melastoma. Shrub. 



47 M. ADSCE'NDENS (Swartz, fl. ind. occ. 2. p. 772.) shrub 

 sarmentose, twining, rooting ; branches tetragonal, pubescent ; 

 leaves ovate, acute, glabrous, 3-nerved, denticulated ; raceme 

 ovate, terminal ; racemules bearing the flowers on one side ; 

 calyx tubular, with its limb membranous and 4-5-sided, and with 

 4-5 truncate teeth ; petals oblong, obtuse; stamens 8-10; an- 

 thers opening by 2 pores at the apex, and sheathed at the base ; 

 fruit oblong, 5-celled. ^ . ^"\ S. Native of Jamaica, in moun- 

 tain woods. M. scandens, Swartz, prod. p. 69. but not of 

 Aubl. Perhaps a proper genus allied to Meriania. 



Ascending Melastoma. Shrub cl. 



48 M. NODbscM (Desr. in Lam. diet. 4. p. 55.) blackish ; 

 branches somewhat tetragonal, knotted ; leaves elliptic, serru- 

 lately ciliated, 5-nerved, coriaceous ; flowers in trichotomous 

 corymbs, bracteate ; peduncles hispid ; calyx campanulate, an- 

 gular at the base, crenated, length of the corolla, fj . S. Native 

 of the Antilles. 



Knotted Melastoma. Shrub. 



49 M. PARADOXUM (Mart. herb, ex D. C. prod. 3. p. 202.) 

 shrubby, quite glabrous ; branches much compressed between 

 the knots ; leaves petiolate, coriaceous, oval, somewhat cordate 

 at the base, 5-nerved, with the margins nerve-formed, pale be- 

 neath ; panicle terminal ; fruit globose. Pj . S. Native of Bra- 

 zil, on Mount Arara-coara. Seeds 3-sided, smooth. Habit of 

 Tococa, but the bladders on the petioles are wanting. The calyx 

 is 4-sided. 



Paradoxical Melastoma. Shrub. 



3. Alternifolice. The leaves being alternate in the fol- 

 lowing species, it is therefore evident that it should be excluded 

 from the order altogether. 



1 RHE'XIA JUSSLEOIDES (Lin. fil. suppl. 215.) pubescent; 

 leaves lanceolate, alternate? ribbed, with the margins scabrous 

 from very minute serratures ; flowers solitary, axillary, octan- 

 drous ; calycine segments 4, lanceolate, acute ; petals ovate, ex- 

 ceeding the calyx, yellow; genitals inclinate, shorter than the 

 corolla ; filaments short j stigma warted ; capsule somewhat 



