334 



LII. MELASTOMACEiE 



[Osbeckia 



prolonged beyond it, outside usually clotted with Lairs or scales, segments 

 deciduous. Stamens 8 or 10, equal, anthers large, connective not produced at 

 base. Ovary half-inferior, 4- or 5-celled, bristly at the apex, ovules go on 

 jjlacentas radiating from the axis. Capsule enclosed in calyx-tube and partially 

 adnate to it, the free apex 4-5 valved, seeds numerous, kidney -shaped. Species 

 30-40, nearly all Indian. Only a few of the larger and more common kinds 

 are mentioned here. 



1. 0. rostrata, Don. Subhimalayan tract, from Nepal eastwards. Assam, Khasi hills, 

 East Bengal. Burma. Tonkin. A tall shrub, stem erect, undivided, quadrangular, 

 1. often in whorls of 3, blade 3-8, pet. J-J in. Cymes compound, spreading, calyx 

 densely stellate-hairy, petals \\ in. long, free portion of fruiting calyx as long as , 

 and narrower than fruit. 2. 0. crinita, Benth. Sikkim, 4-8,000 ft. Khasi hills. 

 Muleyit, Tenasserim 7,000 ft. A much branched shrub, clothed with long spreading 

 hairs, fl. purple or pure white, calyx densely clothed with stellate hairs, petals J in. 

 long, free portion of fruiting calyx as long as and narrower than fr. 3. 0. stellata, 

 "Wall. ; Collett Simla Fl. 190, fig. 56. Outer Himalaya, from the Sutlej eastwards, in 

 Sikkim to 6,000 ft. Naga hills at 5,000 ft. Clothed with appressed rigid hairs, fl. 

 purple in compact terminal clusters, calyx densely covered with stellate hairs, petals 

 1 in. long, free portion of' fruiting calyx much shorter than fr. 4. O. nepalensis, Hook. 

 Subhimalayan tract and outer hills, ascending to 5,000 ft., from Nepal eastwards. 

 Assam, Khasi hills. Hills east of Bhamo at 4,000 ft. Yunnan. Branches sharply 

 quadrangular, often narrowly winged, young shoots with stiff appressed hairs, 1. nearly 

 sessile, oblong lanceolate, softly hairy on both surfaces, fl. purple or white, in ample 

 corymbiform compound cymes, supported by large concave bracts, hairy on back, calyx- 

 tube with broad flat persistent scales, fringed with bristles, 5 of them on the limb, 

 alternating with the deciduous segments. Fr. ovoid, free portion of calyx-tube very 

 short. 



Kendrickia Walkeri, Hook f . ; Bedd. Ic. t. 271. Anamalai hills, Ceylon. An epiphytic 

 climbing glabrous shrub, 1. fleshy, ovate, elliptic or ovate-lanceolate, three basal nerves 

 and higher up on the midrib two sec. n., petioles short, stems and branches creeping 

 up trees, the leaves on these small, distichous, those on the fl. shoots larger, 2-3 in. 

 long, all round the branch. Fl. large, .in few-fid. terminal umbels, calyx red, produced 

 slightly beyond ovary, petals 4, fleshy, 1-1 J in. long, bright rose cold., stamens 8, nearly 



equal, anthers opening by pores, connec- 

 tive produced at base into a short horn-like 

 process. 



MEDINILLA, Gaud. ; Fl. 

 Ind. ii. 546. 



Brit. 



Fig. 140. 

 Medinilla rubicunda, Blurne, |. 



Shrubs, often epiphytic, 1. mostly 

 glabrous. Fl. 4- or 5-merous, white or 

 rose, in terminal or axillary cymes. 

 Calyx-limb truncate or obscurely 

 toothed. Stamens 8 or 10, equal or 

 nearly so, anthers opening by pores, 

 connective with 2 tubercles and a short 

 spur at the base of anthers. Ovary 

 usually adnate to the calyx by 8 or 10 

 plates, between which in bud the 

 anthers are included, the filaments be- 

 ing bent down, ovules on an axile 

 placenta. Berry crowned by the calyx- 

 limb. Species 100, Eastern Peninsula, 

 Ceylon, Malay Archipelago, Mascarene 

 and Fiji Islands. 



A. Fl. in axillary cymes. 



1. M.-. rubicunda, Blume. Sikkim 3-6,000 

 ft, Khasi hills. Assam (Makiim Forest 

 D. B. Apr. 1879). A shrub, frequently epi- 

 phytic, branches thick, almost fleshy. L. 



