Descriptions of Malayan Plants. 



809 



XLII. MEMECYLEiE. 



PTERNANDRA. rW^. 



Octandria Monogynia, 



Calyx ovatus, limbo quadridentato. Corolla 4-petala. 

 Stamina octo, antheris introflexis, compressis, basi postice 

 calcaratisjbilocularibus, loculis longitudinaliter dehiscentibus. 

 Ovarium calyci infra adnatum, ^-loculare, polysporum, pla- 

 centis parietalibus. Stylus declinatus. Bacca poJysperma. 



Habitus Melastomarum^ foUis oppositis trinerviis^ floribus 

 paniculatis. 



PTERMANDRA CCERULESCENS. 



Native of Pulo Pinang. Malacca. G. 



A large smooth shrub with round branches. Leaves 

 opposite, short-petioled or subsessile, ovate, acuminate, taper- 

 *ng at the base into short petioles, very entire, very smooth ; 

 coriaceous, paler beneath, vi^ith three strong nerves, and two 

 less conspicuous along the margins ; the transverse veins are 

 few and not prominent. Stipules none, but the petioles are 

 connected by an interpetiolar line. Panicles oppositely 

 corymbose, short, terminal, sometimes also from the upper 

 axils. Peduncles four-sided, smooth. Bracts small. Calyx 

 united to the ovarium beneath, ovate, reticulately squamous, 

 almost entire or obsoletely four-toothed. Corolla blue, 

 lighter at the margin, four-petalled, petals ovate, acuminate, 

 inserted into the calyx. Stamina eight, blue ; filaments 

 nearly erect, incurved at the apex. Anthers large, pointing 

 inwards, compressed, elongated behind into an acumen or 

 spur, cells anteriorly gibbous and bursting longitudinally. 

 The anthers before expansion are turned downwards, as in 

 the Melastomse, but their points do not reach much below 

 the top of the ovary. Style declinate, about as long as the 



* Ewyckia. Blume.— W. G. 



