XXXVII. MELAST0MACE2E 
191 
OSBECKIA. In honour of Peter Osbeck, a Swedish botanist 
and traveller, who visited China in the eighteenth century.— Asia, 
chiefly India ; Australia. 
Osbeckia stellata, Wall . ; FI. Br. Ind. ii. 517. An erect shrub ; 
branches 4-sided, bristly. Leaves opposite, minutely bristly, 
shortly stalked, lanceolate, 3-6 in., entire, tapering to a fine point ; 
longitudinal nerves 5, prominent ; stipules none. Flowers 2-sexual, 
regular, pink-purple, 2-2^ in. diam., in small, terminal clusters. 
Calyx clothed with soft, matted, white, stellate bristles ; tube bell- 
shaped, partially adnate to the ovary, persistent ; lobes 4 or 5, 
lanceolate, nearly as long as the tube, alternate with 5 much 
shorter lobes, all falling off after flowering. Petals 4 or 5, twisted 
in bud. Stamens 8 or 10, inserted with the petals on the mouth 
of the calyx-tube ; filaments yellow, curved ; anthers yellow, 2- 
celled, longer than the filaments, strongly curved, dehiscing by 
terminal pores. Ovary ovoid, 4- or 5-celled, enclosed within and 
partially adnate to the calyx-tube, crowned with 4 or 5 hairy, erect 
lobes at the base of the long, curved style ; stigma terminal, small ; 
ovules numerous. Capsule nearly free, oblong-ovoid, in., 
opening at the top by pores ; calyx-tube narrowed at the throat 
and produced in a short, spreading limb ; seeds numerous, 
minute. (Fig. 56.) 
Simla, Lansdowne Falls, not common ; September. — From Simla to 
Bhootan up to 5000 ft. — China, Malaya. 
XXXVIII. LYTHRACE^ 
Erect shrubs or herbs. Leaves opposite, rarely whorled, simple, 
entire ; stipules none. Flowers 2-sexual, regular, in axillary 
clusters. Calyx free, bell-shaped or tubular, toothed. Petals as 
many as the calyx-teeth, small, sometimes soon falling off, inserted 
at the top of the calyx-tube. Stamens as many or twice as many 
as the petals, inserted on the calyx-tube. Ovary free, at the 
bottom of the calyx-tube, 2- or 4-celled; style simple, thread-like; 
stigma terminal, small; ovules numerous. Capsule partially or 
entirely enclosed within the persistent calyx-tube ; seeds numer- 
ous, small. — Nearly all tropical and temperate regions ; most 
abundant in America. — Name from the Greek lythron, gore, 
referring to the colour of the flowers. 
The Pomegranate, Punica Granatum, occurs in the valleys below Simla, 
probably as an escape ; a shrub with large, red flowers and hard, globose fruit. 
Native name andr. 
A herb. Calyx green, ^ in. long. Stamens 8 . . .1. Ammannia . 
A shrub. Calyx red, in. long. Stamens 12 . .2. Woodfordia* 
