266 MELASTOMACE^. 



Omry free, 2-looular. — A glabrous shrub; leaves large, orbicular, petioled, l-^-nened ; 

 panicle terminal, trichotomous, much branched: ultimate divisions contracted; petals 

 obovate. 



87. O. latifoliuiu, Naud. — Deless. Ic. 5. t. 3. — Habit of i)a«y« : branches thick, as 

 if belonging to a tree ; leaves 5"-8" long, sometimes broader than long, rounded at both 

 ends, minutely cordate at the base : veins as in Davya : petiole l"-2" long ; panicle 3"-8" 

 long and broad : ultimate branches 3-7 -flowered, pedicds short or none ; calyx 2'" long, 

 campanulate, furrowed in fruit, and surrounding the globose capsule ; petals 3'" long. — Hab.. 

 Dominical, Imr.j S. Vincent; [Venezuela! Pendl. 418]. 



Tkibe IV. LASIANBWEM. — 'Fruit capsular. Seeds cochleate. Appendages of amthers, 

 if present, on the anterior side. 



23.- HETEEONOMA, DC; Naud. [l. u. U.p. 151. t. 7./ 2). 



Calyx-limJ) 4-toothed : teeth broad, persistent. Anthers 8, of different structure, 4 tailed, 

 4 without tail : the larger tailed ones with a simple spur, tridenticulate or bifid at the top, 

 the smaller ones with two setaceous spurs. Ovary adherent, crowned with bristles, 4-locular. 

 — Suffratescent herbs ; stem tetragonal; leaves petioled: the pair vsuallg of different 

 growth ; cyme ie7-minal, corymbiform ; flowers large, red. 



88. H. diversifolium, liC. Stem with scattered hairs ; leaves 5-nerved, ovate, acu- 

 minate, serrate-ciliated ; spur of the larger anthers tridenticulate, shorter than the cells. — 

 Bonpl. Rhex. t. 45. — Arthrostemma latifolium, Don, ap. Crueg. I. c. p. 101. — Hab. Trini- 

 dad, Or., on wet ground ; [Guiana, Venezuela !, New Granada, Peru] . 



24. CHJiTOGASTRA, DC; Naud. {I. c. 14. jo. 127). 



(Hephestionia, Naud. I. c. 13. p. 31). 



Calyx-tube terete, usually strigose : lobes 4-5, subulate, persistent. Anthers 8-10, 

 equal : tail short or none. Oiiary adherent, crowned with bristles, 4-5-locular. — Shrubs, 

 growing in elevated situations, usually strigose ; flowers large, mostly solitary and droop- 

 ing, axillary and terminal. 



Sect. Heph-estionia. — Anthers oblong, straight, and a little curved towards the top : 

 tail short, bituberoled at the base. — Low shrubs ; calyx strigose or hispid ; petals purple, 

 cjliate, (usually 5). 



This section presents a remarkable instance of endemic mountain-shrubs, confined to very 

 limited situations, as under the head of De CandoUe's Gh. strigosa there exist in our col- 

 lections four different species, three of which have been found only in a single volcanic 

 island : the fourth has perhaps a wider range, but some of its localities are doubtful. 



89. Oh. strigosa, DC. {explus. syn. Sieb). Leaves ovate, bluntish, Z-nerved, stri- 

 gose : bristles on the upper side 16-20, semiadnate, yellowish, parallel to the midrib ; flow- 

 ers solitary or 3-5 at the end of the branches, drooping, shortly stalked ; calyx-lobes foli- 

 aceous, ovate-oblong, bluntish, spberect ; anthers blunt : tail one-third the length of the 

 B^s.— Bonpl. Mex. t. 26. — Osbeckia ornata, Sw. Melastoma, L. M. cUiata, o. Lam. 

 Hephestionia strigosa, iVaa*?. Rhexia inconstans, Vahl: "the number of stamens vari- 

 able between 7 and 12, of petals 5 and 4." Rh. ornata. Rich. ap. Bonpl. — A low shrub, 

 1' high, much branched : branches tetragonal, strigose ; leaves small, 3'" long : besides the 

 number of bristles given above, there are a few on the revolute margin and the ribs of the 

 underside; petals bright purple.— Hab. S. Kitts {Sw.), Montserrat {¥.), on the tops of 

 the volcanoes, among mossy lava-blocks; [Guadeloupe I, Martinique; Guiana!, New Gra- 

 nada]. 



Naudin has besides a locality from the southern States of North America (Carolina : Noi- 

 sette), though in the writings of Asa Gray no West Indian Melastomacea is mentioned, and 

 though instances of woody plants, ranging spontaneously from the West Indies to the 

 United States, are almost, entirely unknown. As in large collections the misplacement of 

 labels has often led to wrong localities being assigned to plants, I consider these North Ame- 

 rican habitats as erroneous. 



