MEbASTOMACE.E. 
49 
3. Osssea purpurascens. Purpurascent Osscea . 
Very glabrous, branchlets bluntly tetragonal, 
leaves petiolate oblong attenuated at the base 
acuminate at the apex 3-ply-nerved serrated, 
thyrse axillary or lateral tripartite, calyx minute- 
ly and acutely dentate^ petals 4 subrotund, sta- 
mens 8. 
Melastoma purpurascens, Swartz, FI. Ind. Occ. 804. — 
Ossoea purpurascens, DC. Prod. III. 109. 
II A B. Lofty Mountains. Jsk'TCaiherine’s Peak. 
F L. July and August. 
A shrub, or low tree: branchlets generally of a purple 
colour. Leaves 2 inches in length, margined, nervoso- 
striated, submembranaceous. Thyrse length of the leaf, 
tripartito-trifid. Flowers pedicclled, small, white. Petals 
concave, entire, white with crimson dots. Filaments 
broad at the base. Style thick, length of the stamens : 
stigma blunt. Berry subrotund, purple, 4-celled. 
5. Ossaea (?) micrantha. Small-Flowered 
Osscea. 
Branches virgate glabrous, leaves oblong acu- 
minate at both ends glabrous 3-nerved denticul- 
ated, racemes axillary towards the end of the 
branches reclinate, flowers white octandrous, 
calycine teeth 4, petals 4 acuminate marked at 
the base with a crimson spot, berry octagonal 
4-celled ; when ripe snow-white pellucid. 
Melastoma micranthum, Swartz, FL Ind. Occ. 803. 
II A B. Mountains, West end of the Island. 
F L. Spring. 
A shrub : branches virgate, long, terete, glabrous, 
naked beneath. Leaves 5-6 inches long, 3-nerved, gla- 
brous, thin : petiole an inch in length. Racemes axillary, 
placed towards the ends of the branches, scarcely longer 
Vol. 2. » 
