li G. King^Matenah for a Flora of the Malayan Pemnsida. [No. 1, 
pulpy, "8 in. in diani. when ripe. Triana in Trans. Llrni. Soc. XXVTII, 
60 ; C. B. Clarke in Hook. fil. FL Br. Ind. II, 624 ; Cogn, in PO. Mon. 
Plian. VII, 355. M. ohovattim var. ofefongrum, BL ex THana Lc. 60. 
Peeak; Scortechini 1621 King^s Odlector 444, 6023, 8696, 10946 f 
Wray 2980. Penang ; WaUtch, GurtU. Distrib, Sunmtra, Forhm 2072 ! 
Bi-it, India (Khftsia and Assam) ; Tonqnju. 
Eaaify recogTiiaed by its condensed cymes and rather Bmall jlowera. 
B. Melastoma MALABATflaicUM, LmD. Sp. PI. 659. A spreading 
sbrub, 3 to 6 feet high ; young bi*anches, petioles and pedicels densely 
clothed with rather abort, acute to acnniinate, o^^<^^ serrulate scales. 
Leaves ovate-lanceolate, ovate-oblong' or elliptic, tlie apex acute or shoi tly 
acuBiiiiate, petioles short, 3- to 5-nerved {the marginal pair when 
present elender) ; both surfaces strigose, the hairs sparser on the upper 
and pale ; on the lower the hairs more numeroaa feflpecially on the 
minor nerves) and darker, the main nerves clothed with broad-based 
acuminate scales : length 2 to 5 5 in,, breadth '7^ to 2' 5 in. ; petioles 
'2 to "6 in. long. Corymbs lerminat, few-flowered, enveloped in bod by 
large, deciduous, ovate-cordate bracts ; Jlowers 2 to 3 in. across, the 
pedicels "2 to '4 in. long. Calyx ; the tube cylindric-carapanutate, 
densely clothed externally with linear acuminate, entire or sen-ate, pf\le 
scales, almost glabrous within ; the teeth shorter than the tube (rarely 
equal to it), acute or abruptly ftcurainate, the apex deciduouB, scaly only 
near the midribs. Flowers 2 to 3 in, across. Pekils purple. Fruit sub- 
globular, truncate, pulpy, '25 in. in diam. when dry. DC. Pi-odr. Ill, 
145 ; Koxb. Hort. Deng. 33 ; Fl. Ind. II, 405 ; Wall. Cat. 4040 ; Bl. Bijd.-. 
1076 -, Bot. Reg. t. 672 j W. and A. Frodr. 324; Wight J\l t. 95 ; 
Dak. and Giba., Bomb. F1.92 ; Naud. in Ann. Sc. Nat. Ser. 3, XIll, 285 ; 
Tbwftites Enura. 106 (a and /3) j Benth. Fl. Aust. Ill, 293 j C. B. 
Clarke in Hook. fil. PL Br. Ind. II, 523 5 Kurz, For, FL I, 503, not of 
Miq. FL Ind. Bat. I, pt. I, 507 ; Naad. in Ann. Sc. Nat. Ser. 3, XIII, 
273 -t Cogn. in DC. Mon, Phan, YIT, 349. M. aj^ne, D. Don in Mom, 
Wern. Soc. IV, 288 ; DC. Prodr. Ill, 145. M. obvolututn, Jack in Trans. 
Linn. Soc, XIV, 3 ; Cogn. in DC. Mon. Phan. VII, 348. U. articulatum, 
M. heterosfegiumj M, iWVfe-JtoUandi^ and JUT. seckellarttm , Naud. in Ann. 
Sc. Nat. Ser. 3, XlII, 285, 286 and 290. M, velutinum, Seem. Fl. Vit. 
90. M. Banksii, Ounn. ex Triana. Tietnbleyu rhinanthei-a, Griff. Not. 
IV, 677. 
In all the provinces. Distrib. British India and Malayan 
Archipelago, W. Cliina, Seychelle Islands, N. Caledonia, N. Australia. 
A widely difltribnted apeems vnrytag in reality very little Id locahtioa widuly 
separated. The differences have however heen taken aa the bases of many bad and 
donhtfal apeciea. In hia Flova Atistmtiinsifi, Mr. BentHftm remarks (and apparently 
with justice) that the whale twenty-four apucies described by Naadiu iti Ann. Sc. 
