Descriptions of Malayan Plants. 



S27 



14. MELASTOMA VIMINALIS. 



M. octandra, foliis oblongis obtuse aeuminatis basi cordatis 

 quinquenerviis, paniculis tricliotomis, bracteis oppositis ob- 

 longis ciliatis, antheris quatuor alternis sterilibus. 



Native of Sumatra. 



A large climbing shrub. Branches long and drooping, 

 round, pubescent, tinged with purple. Leaves opposite, 

 sub-bifarious, petiolate, oblong, cordate at the base, termi- 

 nating in a long obtuse acumen, entire, smooth above, sprin- 

 kled with minute stellate hairs beneath, five-nerved, the outer- 

 most pair less distinct than the others ; five or six inches 

 long. Petioles short, generally furnished with one or two 

 setae on the edges immediately below the leaf. Stipules 

 none ; interpetiolar line prominent, naked. Panicles oppo- 

 sitely corymbose, trichotomous, terminal and axillary, the 

 whole forming a large foliose panicle at the end of the 

 branch. Bracts rather large, opposite, erect, oblong, ciliate, 

 pubescent as well as the peduncles and calyces. Calyx 

 oblong-ovate ; limb nearly entire. Corolla white, four-petal- 

 ied ; petals acute, subrotate. Stamina eight, of which four 

 are fertile, bearing thick, straight, yellow anthers ; the alter- 

 nate four are sterile, of nearly equal length, but having in 

 place of an anther a simple filiform process, which is appen- 

 diculate at the base : both are equally incurved between the 

 calyx and ovary before expansion. Style subulate, declinate. 

 Stigma small. Berry sub-globose, purple, four-celled, many- 

 seeded. Seeds attached to placentas, which project from the 

 inner angle of the cells. 



15. MELASTOMA EXIMIA. 



M. octandra, paniculis terminalibus, foliis maximis glaber- 

 rimis elliptico-ovatis quintuplinerviis. 



Found on the side of Gunong Bunko, commonly called the 

 Sugar-loaf Mountain, in the interior of Bencoolen. 



