ia.] Lx. MELASTOMACE^. (0. B. Clarke.) 553 



4. K. tiiberculata, Hook. f. in Gen. PI. i. 772; young calyx-tute 

 covered with sessile flat tutercles, limb 4^toothed, &uit ovoid nearly glabrous 

 finally. Eectomitra tuberculata, Blume Mus. Bat. i. 7 ; Triana in Trans. Linn. 

 Soc. xxviii. 153. Ewyckia tuberculata, Korth. Verh. Nat. Qesch. Sot. 255 ; 

 Miq. Fl. Ind. Bat. i. pt. i. 569. 



Malacca ; Mamgay No. 805. — Disteib. Sumatra. 



BrancMets round, glabrous. Leaves 2-3 in., ovate or elliptic, shortly acumi- 

 nate, glabrous ; petiole ^\ in. Peduncles glabrous, clustered, 3-5-flow6red ; bracts 

 less than J in. Fruit J-| in. diam. 



21. niEDXECVXiON, Linn. 



Shrubs or trees, glabrous. Leaves opposite, short-petioled or sessUe, coriaceous, 

 orbicular ovate or lanceolate, entire, pinnate-nerved rarely 3-nerved. Flowers 

 usually in small axillary rarely terminal simple or panicled cymes or umbels. 

 Calyx-tube campanulate, glabrous ; limb dUated, truncate or shortly 4-lobed. 

 Petals i, blue or white, rarely reddish. Stamens 8, equal, filaments long ; 

 anthers short, opening by slits in front, connective ending in a horn behind. 

 Ovary inferior, l-ceRed ; apex glabrous surmounted by a convex or depressed 

 disc with 8 radiating grooves; style filiform, simple; ovules 6-12 (in M. 

 Maingayi 20 at least), whorled on a free central placenta. Betry globose or 

 ellipsoid, crowned with the calyx-margin, 1-seeded. Seed large, cotyledons 

 convolute. — Disirib. Species about 100 (but very diificult and many doubtful 

 of determination) numerous in South-East Asia and its islands ; a few extending 

 into Polynesia and Australia, several in tropical Africa, 



The following is merely an artificial key to the material at Kew : the species 

 which appear tolerably distinct from M. edule are taken first ; and the last group 

 contains the enormous mass of specimens that appear difficult to separate from M. 

 edule. 



I. Leaves 3-nerved from the base. 



1. ni. Amottlanum, Thwaites Fnum. 113; leaves long caudate- 

 acuminate, apex obtuse, peduncle 1 in. very slender. Triana in Tram. lArm. 

 Soc. xxviii. 159. Eugenia ? capitellata, Am. Pugill. 17. 



Ceylon ; " at no great elevation," Thwaites, Walker. 



Shrub 10-1 2 ft. ; branchlets slender, round. Leaves 2-2J in., somewhat distichous, 

 elliptic, suddenly acuminated, base roundish, punctate on both surfaces ; petiole 

 scarcely^ in. Pe(i«»c/es solitary ; flowers few, very small, sessile at their apex; 

 petals white (Thwaites). Berry scarcely \ in. diam., globose, areola ^ in. wide. — A 

 variety communicated by Mr. Thwaites has the leaves much larger, 4^ in., the acumi- 

 nated apex much shorter. 



2. IMC. Gardnerl, Thwaites Fnum. 113 ; leaves acute scarcely acumi- 

 nate, inflorescence clustered, peduncle O-J in. Triana in Trans. Linn. Soc. 

 xxviii. 159. 



Ceylon; alt. 2000-5000 ft. ; Thwaites. 



A small tree ; ultimate branchlets quadrangular. Leaves broad-elliptic, narrowed 

 at the base, opaque, pellucid-punctate ; petiole ^ in. Flowers white {Thwaites), very 

 small ; buds very acute. ' Calyx-tube at the time of flowering funnel-shaped, dis- 

 tinctly 4-toothed. Berry size of a pea, spherical, purple-black. 



n. Leaves pinnat^nerved, often very opaque, midrib always conspicuous, 

 nerves conspicuous or obscure. 



