Melastoma.] 
LIX. MELASTOMACE^E. 
763 
2 . MELASTOMA, Linn. 
Shrubs scaly or strigose. Leaves oblong or lanceolate. 
Flowers terminal, solitary or clustered, rose or white, 5-merous. 
Calyx-tube ovoid campanulate, strigose or hairy, lobes deciduous. 
Stamens twice as many as petals very dissimilar (except M. muticum) 
longer ones, anthers purple, connective long, produced at base, 
bilobed, shorter ones alternate, yellow, connective not produced, 
2-tubercled in front. Ovary bristly at top. Fruit baccate, pulpy, 
dehiscing transversely or (rarely) vertically. Seed minute in black, 
sweet pulp. Species 40, Asia, Australasia. 
Stamens of 2 unequal scries. 
Stems covered with long black hairs; leaves 
glabrous. 
Flowers large, white or rose; fruit dehiscing 
irregularly . . ■ 
Flowers large white or rose; fruit dehiscing 
longitudinally . . 
Stems and leaves densely soft, hairy 
Stems and calyx scaly; leaves hairy beneath; 
flowers 2 in. across. 
Bracts large, oblong; calyx scaly 
Bracts large oblong; calyx hairy 
Bracts small linear or o. 
Leaves narrow lanceolate 2 in. long; 
scales short, ovate .... 
Leaves lanceolate 3 in. long; calyx 
densely covered with linear acuminate 
scales . . . • 
Leaves ovate or oblong, 4 to 6 in. long 
Leaves and stem hairless; flowers 3 in. 
across ....■• 
Stamens all similar ..... 
( 1 ) M. decemfidum 
(2) M. schizocarpa 
(3) M. molle 
(4) M. malabathricum 
(5) M. perakense 
(6) M. polyanthum 
(7) M. normale 
(8) M. imbricatum 
(9) M. scabrum 
(10) M. muticum 
(1) M. decemfidum Roxb. Hort. Beng. 90; King , l.c. 4. M. 
sanguineum Sims, Bot. Mag. t. 2241; Clarke, in Hook. fil. F.B.I. 
ii. 524. 
Large lax shrub about 6 ft. tall. Branchlets and petioles 
covered with stiff bristles. Leaves lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate, 
3- to 5-nerved, glabrous except for a few scattered hairs above, 
2-5 to 5 in. long, *6 to i*8 in. wide; petioles *25 to *5 in. long. 
Flowers solitary or 2 to 3 together, 2 to 3 in. across. Calyx-tube 
•25 to *5 in. long, densely clothed with long stiff pink hairs ; teeth 
linear acuminate, about half as long as the globose urceolate tube. 
Petals 1*5 in. long, broadly obovate, pale rose. Stamens shorter. 
Hab. Mountain woods from about 1200 ft. altitude upwards, com¬ 
mon. Malacca, Mt. Ophir. Pahang, Tahan River. Perak 
(Kunstler). Selangor, Ginting Sempah. Penang Hill (Curtis); 
Telok Bahang (Foxworthy). Kedah Peak. Dislrib. Burma, 
Cochin-China. 
