DESCKIPTIVE CATALOGUE. 321 



type of a new genua dedicated to Don Jos6 de Medinilla y Pineda," who was gov- 

 ernor of the Marianne Islands at the time of Freycinet's visit. Somewhat diagram- 

 matic figures of the plant, flower, and fruit are given in plate 106 of the atlas of the 

 Botany. The species is recorded by Plooker in his Flora of British India as occurring 

 in Malacca, and is recognized by Naudin in his monograph of the Melastomaceae. b 

 References: 



Medinilla rosea Gaudich. Bot. Freyc. Voy. 484. /. 106. 1826. 

 Melastoma medinillama is merely mentioned by Gaudichaud in the text and not 

 properly published. The specific part of the name is therefore not recognized as 

 having place priority. 



Meibomia gangetica. Tick-tkefoil. 



Family Fabaceae. 



Local names. — Atis-aniti (Guam); Mankit (Philippines); i-ialpani (Bengal). 

 A suberect weed, 90 to 120 cm. high; stems woody, slightly angular, upwardly 

 clothed with short gray down; leaves 1-foliolate, the leaflet oblong, entire, glabres- 

 cent on the upper surface, thinly clothed beneath with appressed hairs, membranous 

 or subcoriaceous, 7.5 to 15 cm. long and one-third to one-half as broad, rounded at 

 the base, narrowed gradually upward to an acute point; stipules distinct; petiole 

 12 to 24 mm. long; flowers small, in long ascending, lateral and terminal racemes, 

 purple or yellowish white; calyx less than 2.5 mm. long, campanulate, finely downy, 

 the teeth lanceolate; corolla 3 to 3.5 mm. long; standard broad, wings adhering to 

 the keel; upper stamen free, the other 9 stamens united; pod subsessile, compressed, 

 6 to S-jointed, 12 to 18 mm. long, glabrescent or clothed with minute hooked hairs. 

 Common on the island of Guam ; probably introduced. The vernacular name, sig- 

 nifying "devil's sweet-sop," is probably given it on account of the similarity of its 

 leaves to those of the "atis" {Annona squamosa). This shrub is one of the most 

 highly prized of the medicinal plants of India. It is one of the ten roots {dosha 

 mula) of the Hindu Materia Medica. It is regarded as a febrifuge and anticatarrhal. 

 It is of very wide tropical distribution. 

 References: 

 Meihomia gangetica (L. ) Kuntze, Rev. Gen. 1: 196. 1891. 

 Hedysaruvi gangetiaim J^. Sp. PI. 2: 746. 1753. 

 Desmodium gangeticum DC. Prod. 2: 327. 1825. 

 ISIeitooniia triflora. Crbbpinc; tick-trefoil. 



Local names. — Agsom, Apson (Guam); Pakpak langao (Philippines). 

 A small, much-branched, slender creeping or trailing plant, often not more than 

 5 cm. long, with trifoliolate leaves and small pink flowers arranged 2 or 3 together 

 opposite the leaves. Stems clothed with fine spreading hairs; leaves small, with 

 lanceolate stipules; petiole 3 to 6 mm. long; leaflets obovate, 3 to 12 mm. long, trun- 

 cate or emarginate, with a few appressed hairs below; calyx pubescent, teeth very 

 long, inclosing the corolla; pod sessile, 8 to 12 mm. long, 3 mm. broad, 3 to 6-jointed, 

 the upper suture straight, the lower slightly indented. 



A plant widely distributed in the Tropics. It is good for forage, taking the place 

 of clover and alfalfa, and will grow in all kinds of soil and situations. The leaves 

 are sometimes made into poultices and applied to abscesses and wounds. In Guam 

 it grows in waste places and in abandoned fields, often forming a fine thick turf. 

 Sometimes improperly called "agsom," which see. 

 References: 

 Meibomia triflora (L. ) Kuntze, Rev. Gen. 1: 197. 1891. 

 Hedysarum triflorum L. Sp. PI. 2: 749. 1753. 

 Desmodium triflorum DC. Prod. 2 : 334. 1825. 



« "Hommage de reconnoissance a. D. Jos6 de Medinilla y Pineda, gouverneur des 

 Ilea Mariannes, qui nous a prodigu4 lea soins et les secours les plus empresses." 

 (Gaudichaud, Freyc. Voy. Bot, pp. 484-485, 1826.) 



6 Ann. Sci. Nat. aer. 3, vol. 15, p. 286, 1849. 



9773—05 21 



