Osbeckia.] Melastomacece. 195 



threes ; cal. densely covered with simple coarse hair, segm. 

 triangular, acute, about as long as tube, persistent ; pet. 4, 

 broadly ovate, acute ; anth. obtuse, with a single pore ; cap- 

 sule small, depressed, dehiscent by 4 valves from apex. 



Upper montane zone ; rare. Adam's Peak (Gardner) ; Ambagamuwa 

 (Thwaites) ; bed of upper Maskeliya River, abundant. Fl. March ; 

 pinkish-white. 



Endemic. 



When dried, the leaves become coppery-brown above and golden - 

 yellow beneath. 



3. O. zeylanica, L.f. Suftfil. Plant. 215 (1781). 



Moon Cat. 31. Thw. Enum. 104. Cogn. 1. c. 326. C. P. 1575. 



Fl. B. Ind. ii. 517. Plukenet, Phytog. t. 173, f. 4. 



Annual erect herb, 3-12 in. high, with long slender ascend- 

 ing quadrangular branches with a few adpressed bristly hairs; 

 1. |-i| in., oblong-lanceolate, acute at both ends, finely ciliate- 

 serrate, with a few long scattered hairs on both surfaces, 

 3-nerved, petiole \-\ in., slender, hairy ; fl. small, J-f in., on 

 slender bristly ped. about half as long as cal.-tube, 3-8 to- 

 gether in umbellate terminal cymes ; cal.-tube long-campanu- 

 late, slightly contracted above, ribbed, shaggy, with numerous 

 large stellate bristly hairs with very long rays ; segm. 4, linear- 

 lanceolate, more than half the length of tube, membranous, 

 keeled, ciliate, tipped with stellate bristles, persistent, refiexed 

 in fruit ; pet. 4 ; anth. terminating in a long slender beak. 



Dry region in grass ; rather rare. Jaffna ; Trincomalie ; Batticaloa ; 

 Bintenne (Nevill). Fl. March ; mauve-coloured. 

 Also in S. India. 



4. O. aspera, Bl. in Flora, xxiv. 474 (1831). Bowitiya, S. 



Fl. Zeyl. n. 172. Herm. Mus. 14. Melastoma asperum, L. Sp. PI. 

 391 ; Moon Cat. 35. Thw. Enum. 105. C. P. 1568. 



Fl. B. Ind. ii. 519. Burm. Thes. tt. 72, 73. Wight, Ic. t. 2,77 (small 

 form). 



A small shrub, with numerous slender branchlets, twigs 

 quadrangular, hispid, purple ; 1. i£-2 in., oblong-lanceolate, 

 rounded at ba.se, acute or subacute, often slightly twisted at 

 apex, finely dcntatc-crcnate, slightly hispid on both sides, 

 especially on veins beneath, 5-nerved, the lat. ones faint, mar- 

 ginal, petiole \ ! in.; fl. i|-i| in., cymes short; cal.-tube 

 covered with simple bristly hairs, segm. triangular, about half 

 tube, obtuse, bristly at summit, recurved ; pet. 5, 

 ovate-deltoid, truncate ; anth. with attenuate end ; capsule 

 over \ in., ovoid, truncate, scabrous. 



Var. i J >, minor, 7'riuna, I. c. 55 (sp.). C. I'. [569 (part). 



L. very small, under f in., crowded, very hairy on both 



