Melastomataceae 



653 



1. BLASTUS Lour. Miyama-hashi-kaiviboku Zoku 



Glabrous or short-pilose shrubs with slender, terete branches; leaves membranous, opposite, oblong, long-acuminate, 3- to 5- 

 nervcd, petiolate; flowers small, fasciculate in axils, short-pcdicelled; calyx-tube short-pubescent, ellipsoidal, the limb truncate 

 with 4 minute teeth on margin; petals 4, ovate, convolute; stamens 4, homomorphic, the filaments filiform, the anthers linear- 

 lanceolate, the locules distinct and divergent at base, the connective without an appendage; ovary with 4 septa and joined 

 with the calyx-tube, 4-locular, short-pilose at apex; capsules obovoid-globose, with 4 obscure grooves, enclosed in the calyx-tube; 

 seeds falcate. Few species, in se. Asia, and India. 



1. Blastus cochinchinensis Lour. Anplectruin parpi- 



ftorum Benth.; B. parvifiorus (Benth.) Triana Miyam.\- 



HASHi-KAMBOKU. Shrub, with yellow, sessile, mealy glands 

 throughout; branches slender; leaves membranous, oblong or 

 oblong-lanceolate, 8-15 cm. long, 2.5-5 cm. wide, long-caudate, 

 acute at base, entire, often purplish beneath, the 5 nerves slen- 

 der, raised beneath, the outermost pair very slender not reach- 

 ing the apex, the veinlets transversely parallel, very slender, the 



petioles slender, 2-A cm. long, grooved above; flowers white, 

 1-6 in axillary fascicles, 7-8 mm. across, the pedicels 3-5 mm. 

 long; calyx-tube tubular-campanulate, 2-3 mm. long; petals 4, 

 deltoid-ovate, about 3 mm. long, deflexed, short-clawed at base; 

 anthers about 4 mm. long, the locules with a callose base; cap- 

 sules urceolate-globose, about 3 mm. long. July-Aug. 



Dense woods in evergreen forests; Kyushu (Yakushima); rare. 

 Ryukyus, Formosa, s. China, Indochina, and e. India. 



2. BREDIA BI. 



Hashi-kamboku Zoku 



Glabrous or puberulous shrubs; leaves petioled, ovate to oblong, often oblique, acute, serrulate, 5-nerved; flowers in terminal 

 cymes or panicles, pedicelled, rather small, rose-purple; calyx pilose, the tube obconical and obtusely 4-angled, the limb short, 

 the lobes 4, persistent, deltoid, mucronate below the apex; petals 4, obovate; stamens 8, dimorphic, the anthers narrowly 

 lanceolate, incurved, the larger with a bifid appendage on the connective in front at base, the smaller with a globose appendage 

 of connective in front at base, with a short protuberance on back; ovary 4-locular, adnate to the calyx-tube, widi 8 septa and 

 with a membranous crown at apex; stj'le ascending, the stigma punctate; capsules semiglobose with a depressed apex surrounded 

 by a crown, enclosed in the obconical calyx-tube; seeds obovoid, small. Few species, in se. Asia. 



1. Bredia hirsuta Bl. Hashi-kamboku. Shrub with 

 spreading callose hairs and short puberulence; branches terete; 

 leaves ovate to narrowly so, or ovate-oblong, 4-10 cm. long, 

 2-5 cm. wide, more or less unequal, sometimes slighdy oblique, 

 acute to rather acuminate, slighdy cordate at base, callose- 

 denticulate, 5- to 7-nerved, green on upper side, whitish be- 

 neath, the petioles 1-7 cm. long; inflorescence 8-12 cm. long, 

 ascending, rather many-flowered, puberulous, the pedicels 5-12 

 mm. long, with 2 minute bracteoles at base; flowers rose with 



a purple hue, about 1.5 cm. across; calyx-tube about 4 mm. 

 long, narrowed to the pedicel, the lobes small, deltoid-lanceo- 

 late, about 1 mm. long, obtuse, spreading; petals obovate- 

 rhombic, about 8 mm. long, mucronate; anthers 8, the larger 

 ones 4-5 mm. long, rose, the smaller ones about 2.5 mm. 

 long; capsules obconical, about 7 mm. long, the crown nearly 



entire. July-Oct. Kyushu (Kagoshima and Yakushima). 



Ryukyus. 



3. OSBECKIA L. Hime-no-botan Zoku 



Herbs or shrubs, strigose, the branches usually 4-angled; leaves rather firm, 3- to 7-nerved; flowers terminal, solitary or in heads 

 or panicles, rose or rose-purple, usually bracteate at base; calyx with pinnate scales or stellately fascicled hairs, the tube urceo- 

 late or ovoid, the lobes 4-5, linear or lanceolate, deciduous; petals 4-5, obovate, deciduous; stamens 8 or 10, homomorphic, the 

 anthers often beaked, the connective inflated but not appendaged at base, with 2 ttibercles in front, rarely with a short spur 

 at base on back; ovary 4- to 5-locular, more or less adnate to calyx-tube at base, the apical portion free, with a tuft of hairs; cap- 

 sules enclosed in the calyx-tube, 4- to 5-valved; seeds small, curved. About 50 species, India, Malaysia, e. Asia, and Australia. 



1. Osbeckia chinensis L. O. japonica Naud. Hime- 



no-botan. Perennial 30-50 cm. high; stems erect, firm, 



rather slender, 4-angled, strigose on the angles, sparsely 

 branched; leaves broadly lanceolate, i-6 cm. long, 8-15 mm. 

 wide, acute, subrounded at base, spreading, strigose-hairy, en- 

 tire, 5-nerved, the petioles 1-2 mm. long; flov\'ers few, sessile, 

 in terminal heads, the bracts ovate, obtuse, ciliate, slightly 

 shorter than the calyx-tube; calyx-tube urceolate, glabrous, 5-6 

 mm. long, the lobes 4, membranous, ovate-oblong, subobtuse, 



as long as the tube, widi a short callose tubercle terminated by 

 a tuft of long straight hairs between the lobes; petals broadly 

 obovate, 12-15 mm. long, ciliate near tip; anthers about 4 mm. 

 long, short-beaked, the connective slighdy thickened at base; 

 capsules enclosed in the calyx-tube, subglobose, 4-valved; seeds 



minutely tubercled. Aug.-Oct. Grassy places in lowlands; 



Honshu (Kii Prov.), Shikoku, Kyushu. Ryukyus, Formosa, 



China, and Malaysia. 



4. MELASTOMA L. 



No-BOTAN Zoku 



Strigose shrubs; leaves coriaceous, opposite, elliptic to lanceolate, entire, 3- to 7-nerved, petioled; flowers terminal, large, soli- 

 tary, fasciculate, or in panicles, rose-purple, rarely white, with 2 bracts at base; calyx-tube ovoid or urceolate, the lobes 4-7, 

 usually 5, ovate or lanceolate, deciduous, often with a tooth between the lobes; petals 4-7, usually 5; stamens 8-14, usually 10, 

 dimorphic, the anthers slender and slightly incurved, the larger ones usually violet-purple, the connective much extended at base, 



