MELASTOMACEjE. 267 



A Bimflar species, not yet met with ia the British islands, is ; Ch. CHAMiEcisTus, Or. — 

 Leaves ovate, blantish, uninerved, ciliate : bristles on the upper side 12-14, wholly adnate, 

 nnd transformed into parallel, straight ridges, obUque to the midrii, and projected into 

 points on the convex margin; flowers solitary at the end of branches, subereot, stalked : 

 pedicels as long as the calyx, and both organs hispid ; calyx-lobes oblong, bluntish, erect ; 

 anthers bluntish : tail short, scarcely one-fourth the length of the cells. — Melastoma ciliata, 

 ;8, Lam. Rhexia chamsecistus, Siei. Mart. 297 ! Hephestionia, Naud. — A shrub, higher 

 and less branched than Ch. strigosa : branches tetragonal, strigose ; leaves small, 3'" long : 

 bristles on the under side shorter and more numerons, usually ending with a free point. — 

 Hab. Martinique !, on the top of the Montague P^lee ; the only known locality. 



90. Oh. chironioides, 6r. (». sp). Leaves lanceolate, taper-pointed, uninerved, '^eii- 

 oled, strigose : bristles on the upper side 6-8, semiaduate, yellowish, parallel to the mid- 

 rib ; flowers usually ternate at the end of branches, auberect, almost sessile ; calyx-lobes 

 lanceolate-linear, taper-pointed ; anthers bluntish : tail short, scarcely one-fourth the length 

 of the cells. — A slender shrub : branches short, tetragonal, strigose, the uppermost ones 

 forming a sort of corymb of beautiful purple flowers ; leaves small, 4"' long : under side 

 paler, with a few bristles on the midrib and on the thinly revolute margin ; calyx strigose, 

 approximate to the bracts. This species is easily to be distinguished from the Ch. strigosa 

 by the narrow lobes of the calyx, -and by the want of lateral ribs in the leaf. — Has. Domi- 

 nica!, Imr. 



91. Ch. cistoides, Gr. {n. sp.). Leaves ovate, pointed, S-tierved, petioled, densely stri- 

 gose on the upper side : bristles diverging from the immersed nerves, adnate only at the 

 base ; flowers cymous at the end of branches, shortly stalked ; calyx-lobes subnlate-linear, 

 diverging ; anthers bluntish ; tail very short, scarcely one-sixth the length of the cells. — A 

 diffuse shrub, named after the resemblance of the leaves to those of some European Cisti : 

 branches suboylindrical, strigose; leaves 8"'-12"' long: bristles of the underside free to 

 the base, less numerous, being restricted to the prominent ribs, the veins, and the revolute 

 margin ; calyx hispid ; tubercles of the anther-tail obsolete. — Hab. S. Vincent 1, Quild. 



25. AE.THROSTEMMA, DC. reform ,- Hand. {I. c. 1.3. jo. 355). 



(Pterogastra, Naud., ib.jp. 32. Micranthella, Naud., ib.p. 347.) 



Ca/y^-fe^e 8-10-ribbed, setose: lobes 4-5, persistent. Anthers ^-\f>, eopa\ : tail short 

 or none : base bituberoled. Ovarp at length free, crowned with bristles, 4-5-locular. — 

 Herbs, often sujfrutescent, or slender shrubs ; cymes axillary and terminal, usually consti- 

 tuting a large panicle, sometimes the single ones contracted or represented by a single 

 flower : flowers comparatively small. 



* Calyx-lobes ovate-oblong, pointed, alternating xnith branched bristles 

 (Arthrostemma, Naud), 



93. A. gloiueratum, Naud. Sufirutesceut ; leaves ovate-lanceolate or lanceolate, 

 pointed, 3-nerved; terminal _/?OM!erj clustered ; anthers 8 : tail very short or none. — JBonpl. 

 Rhex. t. 32. — Rhexia dichotoma, Sieh. Mart. 99. Osbeckia glomerata, DC, Pterolepis 

 capitata, Miq. Ph. glomerata, Crueg. I A. capitatnm, Naud. — Stem with elongated, tetra- 

 gonal, strigillose branches ; leaves with scattered, stiff hairs, snbentire ; petals 4, rosy or 

 white; anthers tapering towards the top.— Hab. Dominica!, S. Vincent!, Guild.; Trini- 

 dad !, Cr., common on pastui'cs and savannahs ; [Guiana !, Brazil!]. 



93. A. ladanoides, DC. Annual, herbaceous ; leaves lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate, 

 pointed, 3-nerved ; flowers shortly stalked, distant, in a loose, dichotomous ^a»cfe ,■ anthers • 

 8: tail about one4hird the length of the cells. — Bonpl. Rliex. t. 27. — X.^amAnm, Naud. 

 ex ic. cii. (Bonpl. ib. t. 3S) : a common form, with smaller flowers. Pterolepis pumila, 

 Crueg. I — Stem tetragonal, strigiUose: branches slender; leaves shortly strigose, with 

 scattered hairs, snbentire; petals 4, red; anthers tapering towards the top. — Hab. Trini- 

 dad!, Sch., Lockh., Or., on savannahs; [Panama!, Venezuela!, Brazil!, Paraguay, Peru!]. 



** Calyx-lobes subulate, without alternating bristles (Micranthella, Naud). 



94. A. lanceolatum, Gr. Shrubby ; leaves oblong-lanceolate, acuminate, 3-nerved \~l 

 lateral nerves bipartite ; flowers at length nodding, arranged in diehotamous, axillary cymes ;' 



