258 MELASTOMACEAE. 



Sepals valvate. 



Leaves stipulate ; sepals leathery, Fam, 6, Rhizophoraceae. 



Leaves not stipulate ; sepals mem- 

 branous or herbaceous. Fam. 7. Oxagraceae. 

 Style wanting ; stigmas sessile. Fam. 8. Haloragidaceae. 



Family 1. MELASTOMACEAE R. Br. 



Meadow-Beauty Family. 



Herbs, shrubs or trees, with opposite 3-9-nerved leaves, and regular 

 perfect often shoA^y but rarelj^ odorous flowers. Stipules none. Calyx- 

 tube usually 4r-5-lobed, the lobes imbricated. Petals as many as the lobes 

 of the calyx, and inserted on its throat, imbricated. Stamens twice as 

 many, or equal in number to the petals, often inclined or declined, the alter- 

 nate ones sometimes shorter. Ovary 2-several-celled (often 4-celled) ; style 

 terminal, simple; ovules oo, anatropous. Capsule included in the calyx- 

 tube, irregularly or loculicidally dehiscent. Seeds mainly small, with no 

 endosperm. About 150 genera and 2500 species, widely distributed in trop- 

 ical regions, most abundant in South xVmerica. 



Medinilla magnifica Lindl., Eed Medinilla, of the Philippine Islands, 

 seen at Bellevue in 1914, is a shrub ^vith stout 4-angled branches, thick dark 

 green, strongly 3-13-nerved, broadly ovate or elliptic, acute sessile leaves 6-10' 

 long, and elegant panicles, often 1° long, of red flowers about 1' across. 



Family 2. LYTHRACEAE Lindl. 

 Loosestrife Family. 



Herbs, shrubs, or often trees in the tropics. Leaves mostly opposite, 

 usually entire. Flowers perfect, solitary or clustered. Calyx-tube en- 

 closing the ovarj^, but free ; calyx-lobes mostly 4—6, commonly accompanied 

 by accessory teeth. Corolla of 4 to 6 petals, or wanting. Filaments mostly 

 filifoiTti; anthers versatile. Ovary 2-6-celled, or rarely 1-celled. Styles 

 united. Stigmas entire or rarely 2-lobed. Ovules anatropous. Fruit a 

 thin-walled or firm capsule enclosed in the hypanthium. Seeds variously 

 marked or roughened. Embryo straight. 



Lagerstroemia indica L., Queen of Shrubs, Crape Myrtle, Asiatic, 

 grown for ornament, is a tall .shrub or small tree, with rather small entire 

 mostly opposite leaves and showy, pink or sometimes white flowers in terminal 

 clusters; the floAxers have 6 clawed crisped petals, and many long filaments; 

 the fruit is a leathery 3-6-valved capsule. The plant blooms from spring to 

 early autumn. 



Parsonsia micropetala (H.B.K.) Britton, Small-petaled Parsonsia, Mex- 

 ican, seen at Paget Eectory in 1914, is a somewhat rough shrub 2°-3i° high, 

 with opposite petioled oblong-lanceolate leaves 2-4' long, or the upper alter- 

 nate, smaller, and racemose leafy-bracted flowers, the tubular calyx about 1' 

 long, 12-nerved and 12-toothed, scarlet at base, yellow above, the 6 petals 

 minute, the stamens red. [Cuphea micropetala H.B.K. ] 



Family 3. PUNICACEAE Horan. 

 Pomegraxate Family. 



Shrubs or small trees, with terete branches. Leaves opposite or nearly 

 so, entire. Flowers perfect, showy, solitary or clustered in the axils, short- 

 peduncled. Calyx leatheiw, turbinate, adnate to the ovary, its lobes 5-7. 

 Corolla of 5-7 petals inserted at the throat of the calyx-tube, wrinkled. 



