MtlLASTOMACEiE. 
39 
Jam. 217. t. 22. f. 1. — Rhcxia Acisanthera, Willd. II. 
303. 
II A B. Pastures, St. Thomas in the Vale Vale of 
Lluida. 
F L. Autumn. 
Herbaceous, about a foot in height, erect : branches 
few, tetragonal. Leaves small, ovate, 3-nerved, crenated. 
Flowers axillary, alternate, solitary, white, peduncled. 
Petals 5, obovate. 
ORDER LXXV. MELASTOMACE/E. 
Calycine lobes 4, 5, or-6. Petals equal in num- 
ber to the segments of the calyx, arising from their 
base, or from the edge of a membranceform disk, 
adnate to the tube of the calyx ; during aestiva- 
tion twisted. Stamens usually twice as many as 
the petals, sometimes equal to them in number : 
filaments during aestivation replicato-inflected, 
with the anthers between the tube of the calyx 
and the ovary $ assurgent on the opening of the 
flower : anthers long, bilocular, generally open- 
ing by 1-2 pores at the apex, rarely bursting lon- 
gitudinally. Ovary more or less concrete to the 
calyx : style 1 : stigma simple : a cup often pre- 
sent on the apex of the ovary, surrounding the 
insertion of the style. Pericarp either dry and 
distinct from the calyx, or succulent and con- 
crete with the calyx, many-cellcd : placentae at- 
tached to a central column. Seeds innumerable, 
minute, with a brittle testa, and no albumen $ 
embryo straight : cotyledons unequal. 
Tree or shrubs, rarely herbaceous. Leaves opposite, 
undivided, with several strong nerves or ribs, running 
