654 



Melastomataceae; Onagraceae 



bifid or emarginate, the smaller ones yellow, the connective not extended, with 2 tubercles in front; ovary ovoid, free or with 



5(4-7) septa, hairy at the mucronate apex; fruit a coriaceous or fleshy, indehiscent or irregularly dehiscent berry. About 80 



species, tropical Asia, Pacific Islands, and Australia. 



1. Melastoma candidum D. Don. M. macrocarpum D. 

 Don; M. septemnervium Lour., non Jacq.; M. nobotan Bl.; 



M. candidum var. nobotan (Bl.) Makino No-eotan. 



Shrub, the branches rather thick, obscurely 4-angled, densely 

 appressed-strigose and with flattened whitish scalelike hairs; 

 leaves somewhat coriaceous, oblong to ovate-elliptic, 5-12 cm. 

 long, 2.5-6 cm. wide, acute, obtuse to rounded at base, entire, 

 appressed-strigose on both sides, 5- to 7-nerved, the veinlets 

 slender, parallel, the petioles 1-2 cm. long; flowers 3-7, termi- 

 nal, 6-8 cm. across, rose-purple, the bracts lanceolate to nar- 



rowly ovate, caducous, slightly shorter than the calyx-tube; 

 calyx-tube urceolate-campanulate, 8-10 mm. long, the lobes 5, 

 narrowly deltoid, acuminate, as long as the tube; anthers di- 

 morphic, the larger ones about 1 cm. long, with the elongate 

 portion of connective as long as the anther and shallowly bifid 

 at the tip, the smaller ones 8-9 mm. long, the connective with- 

 out an elongate portion; berry coriaceous, the upper half free, 

 exserted, with flattened hairs. July-Aug. Reported to oc- 

 cur in Kyushu (Yakushima) ; rare. Ryukyus, Formosa, 



China, and Indochina. 



Fam. 149. ONAGRACEAE Akabana Ka Evening Primrose Family 



Herbs, or rarely shrubs, sometimes aquatic; leaves simple, opposite or alternate; stipules deciduous or absent; flowers bisexual, 

 actinomorphic, usually solitary in axils or in spikes; calyx adnate to the ovary, the lobes 4 or 5, sometimes 2, valvate; petals as 

 many as the calyx-lobes, convolute or imbricate, rarely absent; stamens as many or twice as many as the calyx-lobes; anthers 

 2-locular, longitudinally dehiscent; ovary inferior or half-inferior, 2- to 6-locular, rarely the locules incomplete; ovules 1 to 



many, on axile placentae; style simple; fruit a capsule or nutlike; seeds 1 to many, endosperm absent, embryo straight. 



About 37 genera, with about 600 species, in both hemispheres, especially abundant in the New World. 



lA. Ovary half-inferior, 1-locular, 1-seeded; fruit relatively large, with 2-4 spines, indehiscent; aquatic herbs with rhomboidal coarsely 



toothed leaves 1- Trapa 



IB. Ovary inferior, usually 2- to 6-locular, with 1 to many small seeds. 



2A. Flowers dimerous; fruit indehiscent, obovoid, uncinate-pilose, 1- or 2-locular, each locule 1-seeded 2. Circaea 



2B. Flowers tetramerous; fruit a many-seeded capsule. 



3 A. Capsules loculicidally dehiscent; seeds comose; petals usually rose, white, or red-purple 3. Epilobmm 



3B. Capsules septicidally dehiscent or irregularly ruptured; seeds not comose; petals yellow or absent 4. Ludwigia 



1. TRAPA L. 



HiSHI ZOKU 



Aquatic herbs; leaves floating, rhombic, coarsely toothed, the petioles often spongy and partially inflated; flowers axillary, soli- 

 tary, short-pedicelled; calyx-tube short, subtending the ovary, the limb 4-lobed, die lobes persistent, becoming at least partly spine- 

 like; petals 4, inserted on the disc, superior to the ovary; stamens 4; ovary half-inferior, 1-locular, adnate at base to the calyx-tube, 

 the free portion conical, terminated by the persistent style, die stigma capitate; ovules solitary, pendulous; fruit bony, indehiscent, 



obconical, widi 2-4 large spines, 1-seeded; seeds rather large, testa membranous, cotyledons unequal. Few species, in tropical 



and temperate regions of the Old World. 



lA. Plant prominently pubescent on petioles, pedicels, calyx, and underside of leaves; leaves 3-8 cm. wide; fruit 3-4 cm. long, inclusive of 

 the usually spreading spines 1 . T. japomca 



IB. Plant glabrous except leaves beneath; leaves 1-2 cm. wide; fruit 2-3 cm. across, inclusive of the usually ascending spines; plant smaller 

 than the preceding 2.T. incisa 



Var. rubeola (Makino) Ohwi. T. nutans var. rubeola Ma- 

 kino Mebishi. Petioles reddish; fruit 4-spined. Hon- 

 shu. 



2. Trapa incisa Sieb. & Zucc. T. bispinosa var. incisa 

 (Sieb. & Zucc.) Fr. & Sav.; T. nutans var. incisa (Sieb. & 



Zucc.) Makino Himebishi. Resembling the preceding 



species but smaller; stems very slender; leaves deltoid-rhom- 

 bic or depressed-rhombic, 1-2 cm. long and as wide, acute 

 or subacute, broadly cuneate and entire on lower half, with 

 few, prominent deltoid teeth on upper margin, glabrous 

 on upper side, glabrous or loosely pubescent on nerves near 

 base beneath, the petioles 1-8 cm. long, slender, usually gla- 

 brous except at apex; flowers white or pale rose, 6-8 mm. 

 across; fruit slightly flattened, obtriangular, 2-3 cm. long in- 

 clusive of the spines, with a hornlike projection at die center, 

 with an ascending or obliquely spreading spine at each end, 

 dorsal and ventral calyx-lobes becoming spinose and descend- 

 ing in fruit. July-Oct. Lakes and ponds; Honshu, Shi- 



koku, Kyushu. 



1. Trapa japonica Flerov. T. bispinosa sensu auct. Ja- 

 pon., non Roxb.; T. nutuns var. bispinosa Makino, excl. syn.; 

 T. bispinosu var. iwasa^ii Nakano, and var. iinumai Nakano 



HisHi. Annual; stems slender, much elongate, with 



fiUform pinnately divided roots at each node; leaves rosulate, 

 ovate-rhombic or broadly rhombic, 2.5-5 cm. long, 3-8 cm. 

 wide, obmse to subacute, broadly cuneate or subtruncate at 

 base, entire on lower half, irregularly coarse-toothed on upper 

 margin, glabrous and lustrous on upper side, prominently 

 pubescent beneath especially on nerves, the petioles 10-20 cm. 

 long, pubescent, the inflated portion lanceolate, 1-5 cm. long; 

 pedicels short, pubescent, 2-4 cm. long, deflexed in fruit; flow- 

 ers white to pale rose, about 1 cm. across; calyx soft-pubescent, 

 the dorsal and ventral calyx-lobes deciduous; fruit bony, rather 

 flat, obtriangular, 3-4 cm. long inclusive of the spines, with a 

 hornlike projection at the center and with a solitary spine at 

 each end, the spines retrorsely scabrous toward tip. July- 

 Oct. Lakes and ponds; Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, Kyu- 

 shu; common. Korea, Manchuria, and China. 



