226 ROSACEA. Amelanchier. 



var. 4. oligocarpa : shrubby ; leaves mostly smooth, even when young, narrowly oval or 

 oblong, cuspidate ; racemes 2 - 4-flowered ; petals obovate or obovate-oblong, 2-3 times the 

 length of the calyx. Torr, ^ Gr. I. c. Mespilus Canadensis, var. oligocarpa, Michx. I. c. 

 Pyrus sanguinea, Pursh, I. c? Aronia sanguinea, Nutt. gen. l.p. 306. Amelanchier san- 

 guinea, DC. I. c; Lindl. hot. reg. 1171 ; Hook. I. c. 



Stem variable in height : in the 1st and 3rd varieties, 15-25 feet high, with a stem 4-6 

 inches in diameter ; in the 2d and 4th varieties, a shrub from 4 to 12 feet high. Leaves 

 1-3 inches long, sharply serrate, at first in all the varieties (but much less so in 1. and 4.) 

 densely clothed with a whitish or somewhat rusty-colored woolly pubescence, which at length 

 disappears. Stipules linear, hairy, deciduous. Flowers appearing before the leaves are fully 

 expanded, and so numerous that they give the bush or tree a white appearance. Bracteoles 

 purplish, deciduous. Petals considerably larger in the var. Botryapium than in the others. 

 Stamens a little longer than the calyx. Styles united nearly to the summit. Fruit the size 

 of a large whortleberry, red until fully ripe, when it becomes rather dark purple, sweet and 

 palatable. 



Borders of woods, low grounds, etc. ; common : the var. oligocarpa on mountains in the 

 northern part of the State, The 2nd is the common kind in the neighborhood of New- York 

 city. Fl. Latter part of April - May. Fr. June - July. The varieties here described often 

 pass into each other, so that they can never be regarded as distinct species. 



Order XXXIX. MELASTOMACE^. Juss. The Melastoma Tribe. 



Sepals 4-6, united below into an urceolate tube which is more or less coherent 

 with the angles of the ovary. Petals as many as the sepals, alternate with 

 them, and inserted into the throat of the calyx ; aestivation twisted. Stamens 

 as many as the petals and alternate with them, or more commonly twice as 

 many ; those opposite the petals often sterile : anthers 1 - 2-celled, often 

 appendaged, usually opening by one or two terminal pores ; before flowering, 

 contained in interstices between the ovary and calyx. Ovary 3 - 6-celled, 

 with thick placentae in the axis : ovules numerous, anatropous. Fruit capsular, 

 and at length nearly free from the tube of the calyx, or often baccate, 3-6- 

 celled. Seeds very numerous, without albumen. — Herbs, trees or shrubs, with 

 opposite, mostly entire, ribbed leaves, destitute of stipules. Flowers terminal, 

 solitary or cymose. 



A large order, chiefly natives of tropical America. 



