BUETTNERIACEJ!. 93 



mate, pointleted, quite entire, leng-petioled : petiole cylindrical, and enlarged at the base- 

 panicles corymbose, equalling or exceeding the petiole, puberulous ; calyx-segments lauceo- 

 late-lmear, acuminate, nmcli exceeding the column; petals sessile, ovate : agpendage linear, 

 bluntish, tapering towards the base, three times exceeding the limb, and equalling the calyx; 

 column-lobes roundish, glandular ; connective prominent ; ovary covered with glands : style 



distinct, short; capsule —Jacq. H. Schaenbr. 1. t. 46.— A high, trailing shrub; leaves 



6 -8 long, and nearly as broad : petiole equalling the limb, or shorter ; flowers white, with 

 a red point on the petals.— Hab. Trinidad I, Or.; [Venezuela]. 



Tribe III. HERMANNIE^.— Column free aiove, h-androus, mthout sterile lobes: 

 anthers opposite to the corolla. 



5, MELOCHIA, L. 



(Kiedleia, Vent. Mougeotia, Kth^ 



C«/ya5-fid. Petals h. Column adhering at the base to the petal-claws, divided into 

 five filaments, or entire : anthers bilocular. Styles 6, distinct or united below. Capsule 

 5-locular, 5-10-seeded. Embryo straight, enclosed by endosperm : cotyledons foliaceous. 

 — Shrubs or herbs ; h&Yei penninerved (i. e. with excurrent veins). 



Sect. 1. EuMELOCHlA. — Capsule loculiddal, with the dissepiments cohering, at length se- 

 parating from the filiform axis. Column divided to the adnate lose. — Flower-fascicles 

 axillary and terminal : flowers purple, devoid of an involucel. 



/^ 9. M. pyramidata, L. Suflrutescent ; leaves glabrous, oblong-lanceolate, crenate-ser- 

 rate ; flower-fascicles opposite to the leaf, few-flowered : peduncle neai-ly as long as the peti- 

 ole ; calyx somewhat exceeded by the corolla : lobes lanceolate, acuminate ; stamens united 

 only at the adnate base ; styles subdistinct ; capsule pyramidal, 5-angled : angles cuspidate 

 at the base externally. — SI. t. 139./. 1 ; Cav. Diss. t. 173./. 1 ; As. Gr. Gen. Bor. Amer. 

 2. t. 134. — Stem l'-2' high: branches marked with a pubescent, longitudinal line; leaves 

 l"-2" long ; petals red, vrith yellow claws, obovate, 3'" long ; capsule 3'" long : diameter at 

 the base (with the points included) 5'". — Hab. Jamaica!, Macf.; Bahamas!; Antigua!, 

 Nichols.; Dominica!, Imr.; [Texas!, Mexico), Cuba!, Haiti!, Venezuela!, Guayaquil!, 

 Brazil!!. 



^ ■' 



10. ffil. tomentosa, L. Shrubby; leaves usually tomenlose, plicate-veined, tapering 

 from the ovate or subtruncate base, crenate or obtuse-serrate ; flower-fascicles mostly termi- 

 nal on short branches, peduncled ; calyx twice exceeded by the corolla: lobes lanceolate, 

 acuminate ; stamens united only at the adnate base ; styles distinct ; capsule trapezoid-py- 

 ramidal, tomentose, B-angled : angles somewhat pointed externally. — SI. t, 138. /. 3, 3 ; 

 Cav. Diss. t. 173./. 3. — M. frutescens, Jacq. — A shrub, 3'-5' high : branches tomentose 

 and glabrate ; leaves 2"-4"' long, bluntish or rounded at the top ; petals purple, clawed, 

 obovate, 6'" long ; capsule 2"'-3''' long and broad, shortly stalked. — A variety of this ap- 

 pears to be 



p. crenata, Vahl. leaves small, oval-roundish, blunt, crenate ; " capsule oblong : angles 

 rounded." — FaM, Symb. 3. t. 68.— Kiedleia, i)C.— Leaves 4"'-6"' long, either tomentose 

 {Vahl) or glabrous {Hb. Benth.). Our Turk Islands specimens have the small leaves of 

 this, but with the white tomentum only on their under side : in their shape and serratures 

 they are not distinguished from a, nor in the capsule and its wings. — Hab. Jamaica !, M'Nab, 

 Al., March, in dry pastures; Turk Islands, Hjalmars.; Antigua!, Nichols.; S. Vincent!, 

 Anders. (,3); [Cuba! and Mexico! to Venezuela! and Brazil!]. 



Sect. 2. RiEDLEiA. — Capsule- septicidal and loculicidal. Column divided into subulate 

 filaments, which cohere sometimes at the top. — Flowers surrounded by a three-leaved in- 

 volucel, purple, glomerate : clusters spicate ; stipules striate, ovate-lanceolate, equalling 

 the short petiole. 



11. M. serrata, Benth. Shrubby, pilose; leaves ovate or ovate-oblong, bluntish, 

 coarsely duplicate-serrate : hairs chiefly on the veins ; flower-clusters in a terminal inter- 

 rupted spike, and axillary ; calyx half the length of the linear involucel-leaves : lobes lanceo- 



