The taxonomy of Melastoma L.

Table of Contents

1. Accepted names
2. Nomina nuda
3. Nomina excludenda
4. Species dubiae

1. Accepted names

1. Melastoma beccarianum Cogn.
2. Melastoma bensonii Merr.
3. Melastoma crinitum Naudin
4. Melastoma cyanoides Sm.
5. Melastoma dodecandrum Lour.
6. Melastoma imbricatum Wall. ex C.B. Clarke
7. Melastoma malabathricum L.
   • ssp. malabathricum L.
   • ssp. normale (D. Don) K. Meyer
8. Melastoma minahassae Koord. ex K. Meyer
9. Melastoma moluccanum Blume
10. Melastoma montanum (Lauterb.) K. Meyer
11. Melastoma muticum Ridl.
12. Melastoma orientale Guillaumin
13. Melastoma pellegrinianum (H. Boissieu) K. Meyer
14. Melastoma perakense Ridl.
15. Melastoma sabahense K. Meyer
16. Melastoma saigonense (Kuntze) Merr.
17. Melastoma sanguineum Sims
    • var. sanguineum Sims
    • var. laevifolium (Merr.) K. Meyer
    • var. ranauense K. Meyer
18. Melastoma septemnervium Lour.
19. Melastoma setigerum Blume
20. Melastoma tetramerum Hayata
21. Melastoma toppingii Merr.
22. Melastoma velutinosum Ridl.

2. Nomina nuda

The Kew Index records 835 names for Melastoma. Most of them are already synonymized or transferred to other genera, but not all. The following lists contain those names that do not belong into Melastoma but are listed as valid names in the Kew Index.

• Melastoma adpressum Wall., Numer. List (1831): 4081.
• Melastoma banksii R. Cunn. ex Triana, Trans. Linn. Soc. London 28 (1871): 59.
• Melastoma barbatum Wall., Numer. List (1831): 4082.
• Melastoma erythrophylla Wall., Numer. List (1831): 4085.
• Melastoma globuliferum Walp., Rep. 2: 133.
• Melastoma macrocarpum Hook. ex Triana, Trans. Linn. Soc. London 28 (1871): 59.
• Melastoma melobractum, label on collection Conn 1494 (L).
• Melastoma mindanaense Merr., label on collection Ramos BS 38481 (L, K, P).
• Melastoma molkenboerii var. cogniauxii Koord.
• Melastoma palawanense Merr., label on collection Merrill 7214 (K).
• Melastoma rhodocarpum Wall., Numer. List (1831): 4045.
• Melastoma tetragonum Merr., label on collection Ramos BS 38915 (L, K, P, PNH).
• Otanthera ramosii Merr., label on collection Ramos BS 42299 (C).

3. Nomina excludenda

• Melastoma cavaleriei H. Lév. & Vaniot, Feddes Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. 3 (1906): 21. = Phyllagathis cavaleriei (H. Lév. & Vaniot) Guillaumin?
• Melastoma cereaceum Pickering ex A. Gray, Bot. U. St. Expl. Exped. 1: 581. = an Astronia sp.?
• Melastoma cordifolium Roxb., Fl. Ind. ed. 2 (1832): 406. = possible a member of tribe Dissochaeteae.
• Melastoma crinitum Roxb., Fl. Ind. ed. 2 (1832): 402. = Osbeckia stellata Buch.-Ham. ex Ker(-Gawler).
• Melastoma curvum Roxb., Fl. Ind. ed.2 (1832): 405. = possible a member of tribe Dissochaeteae.
• Melastoma ferruginatum DC., Prodromus 3 (1828): 181. = a neotropical plant.
• Melastoma geniculatum Roxb., Fl. Ind. ed. 2 (1832): 403. = Osbeckia sp.
• Melastoma griffithianum J.W. Mast., Calcutta J. Nat. Hist. 7 (1846): 323. = Osbeckia stellata Buch.-Ham. ex Ker(-Gawler)?
• Melastoma grossularium Crantz, Inst. Rei Herb. 2 (1766): 175. - a neotropical plant.
• Melastoma jenkinsii J.W. Mast., Calcutta J. Nat. Hist. 7 (1846): 323. = Osbeckia sp.
• Melastoma mairei H. Lév., Feddes Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. 11 (1912): 300. = Osbeckia stellata Buch.-Ham. ex Ker(-Gawler).
• Melastoma micans Gilli, Ann. Naturhis. Mus. Wien 83 (1980): 448. = Tibouchina urvilleana Cogn.
• Melastoma napalense Lodd., Bot. Cab. 2, t. 107. = Osbeckia nepalensis Hook.
• Melastoma osbeckioides Hunter ex Ridl., J. As. Soc. Straits 53 (1909): 92. = Dissochaeta punctulata Hook. f. ex Triana.
• Melastoma petiolatum Mill., Garden. Dict. ed. 8. (1768). = M. petiolare Wall.? = Diplectria viminalis (Jack) Kuntze?
• Melastoma pubibundum Blume, Cat. Gewass. Buitenz. (1823) = Creochiton pubibunda Blume.
• Melastoma pulchellum Roxb., Fl. Ind. ed. 2 (1832): 403. = Osbeckia stellata Buch.-Ham. ex Ker(-Gawler).
• Melastoma tamonea Blanco, Fl. Filip., ed. 1 (1837): 367. = excluded because of 6-merous, tubular flowers.
• Melastoma tomentosum Hunter ex Ridl., J. As. Soc. Straits 53 (1909): 93. = Dissochaeta annulata Hook. f. ex Triana.
• Melastoma vagans Roxb., Fl. Ind. ed. 2 (1832): 404. = Oxyspora vagans Roxb.
• Melastoma verrucosum Blume, Catalogus: 71. = Osbeckia nepalensis Hook.?
• Otanthera fordii Hance, J. Bot. 14 (1881): 47. = Bredia fordii Hance.

4. Species dubiae

About the species dubiae no or too little information was available to decide on their status. Also listed here are species known from single collections that I could not synonymize. Because of the high variability of some Melastoma species I am reluctant to accept them as species.

• Melastoma bauchei Guillaumin, Not. Syst. 2 (1912): 303. - Type: Bauche 114, Prov. de Tû, Vinh-ba-ha, Vietnam (P). - Maybe near to M. sanguineum Sims.
• Melastoma celebicum Blume, Flora 14 (1831): 487. - Melastoma polyanthum var. celebicum (Blume) Bakh. f., Meded. Bot. Mus. Herb. Rijks Univ. Utrecht 91 (1943): 70. - Type: Reinwardt s.n., Celebes, Indonesia (L, not seen). - Judging after the description of Blume (1831) and Bakhuizen van den Brink jr. (1943) this might be M. lanuginosum, which would then be a synonym of M. celebicum.
• Melastoma culionense Merr., Philipp. J. Sci., Bot 12 (1917): 353. - Type: Escritor BS 21647, Halsey Harbor, Culion, Palawan, Philippines, 25 Aug 1913 (PNH?, not seen). - Near to M. sanguineum var. laevifolium (Merr.) K. Meyer?
• Melastoma furcatum Roxb., Fl. Ind. ed. 2 (1832): 405. - Type: not designated. - M. moluccanum Blume?
• Melastoma godeffroyi Reinecke, Engl. Bot. Jahrb. 25 (1898): 661. - Type: Reinecke 440, Savaii, Centralgebiet, Samoa, Oct 1894 (WRSL?, not seen). - Possibly a synonym of M. malabathricum L.
• Melastoma grandifolium O. Schwartz, Mitt. Staatsinst. Allg. Bot. Hamburg 7 (1931): 237. - Type: Winkler 1024, Bukit Raja, West Borneo (Sarawak?, Malaysia), 1700 m, 22 May 1924 (HBG?, not seen). - This might be M. imbricatum Wall. ex C.B. Clarke.
• Melastoma intermedium var. squamatum Y.R. Ling & X. Xiong (1991): 8. - Type: Chun 6827, Guangzhou, Guangdong (not seen). - M. intermedium Dunn is a synonym of M. malabathricum L., but the description mentions ramified hypanthium scales that I have not found in M. malabathricum-collections.
• Melastoma kudoi Sasaki, Trans. Nat. Hist. Soc. Taiwan 21 (1931): 113. - I have no information about this species.
• Melastoma lanuginosum Blume, Bijdr. 17 (1826): 1077. - Type: Blume s.n., Tjibiday, Java, Indonesia (K). - The type collection is sterile, but it might be M. malabathricum ssp. normale (D. Don) K. Meyer.
• Melastoma longisepalum Ridl., J. Fed. Malay States Mus. 6 (1915): 147. - Type: not designated. - Judged by the description given by Ridley this might be M. malabathricum L.
• Melastoma nobotan Miq., Ann. Mus. Bot. Lugd. Bat. 2 (1865): 262. - I have no information about this species.
• Melastoma ovalifolium Bakh. f., Meded. Bot. Mus. Herb. Rijks Univ. Utrecht 91 (1943): 75. - Type: Bünnemeyer 10476, G. Koerintjii, Sumatera Barat, Indonesia, 1800 m (L). - This might be M. sanguineum Sims, but the leaves are ovate and the hypanthium have spreading scales instead of bristles.
• Melastoma subalbidum Merr., Philipp. J. Sci., Bot, 12 (1917): 354. - Type: McGregor BS 19835, Mt. Polis, Ifugao, Philippines, Feb 1913 (K, P, PNH). - Possibly near to M. moluccanum Blume with its short appressed hypanthium scales and the loose inflorescence.
• Melastoma suffruticosum Merr., Lignan Sci. J. 14 (1935): 42. - Type: Lau 247, Naam Shan Leng (Ngai Distr.), Hainan, China,12 Jul 1932 (BM, P).
• Melastoma teysmanni Miq., Fl. Ind. Bat., Suppl. I. (1860): 316. - Type: Teysmann s.n., Kota Nopan, Sumatra, Indonesia (U?, not seen).
• Otanthera luzoniensis (Quisumb. & Merr.) C. Hansen, Ginkgoana 4 (1977): 122. - Osbeckia luzoniensis Quisumb. & Merr., Philipp. J. Sci. 37 (1928): 184. - Type: Ramos BS 45719, Mt. Alzapan, Tayabas, Luzon, Philippines, Jun 1925 (K). - The only collection of this species is without stamens, therefore it can not be decided if this plant belongs to Osbeckia or Otanthera (= Melastoma). With its stellate hypanthium emergences and the strigose leaves it is similar to M. beccarianum Cogn., but the sparse branch indument and the type locality suggest a new species.
• Otanthera scaberrima (Hayata) Ohwi, J. Jap. Bot. 12 (1936): 386. - Osbeckia scaberrima Hayata, J. College Sci., Tokyo 30 (1911): 115. - Type: Kawakami 1923, Mt. Morrison, Taiwan (TI, not seen).
• Otanthera macgregorii Merr., Philipp. J. Sci., Bot, 12 (1917): 356. - Type: McGregor BS 14408, Imugan, Nueva Vizcaya, Philippines, 26 Apr 1912 (PNH?, not seen). - Merrill allied this species to Otanthera celebica Blume (= M. moluccanum Blume) which is most likely the correct name for this species.
• Otanthera oligantha Schum. & Lauterb., Fl. Deutsch. Südsee (1901): 478. - Type: Lauterbach 3173, Bismarck-Gebirge, Papua New Guinea, 300 m, 4 Nov 1899 (WRSL, not seen). - Melastoma cyanoides Sm.?
• Otanthera queenslandica Domin, Biblioth. Bot. 22,89 (1928): 1032. - Type: Dietrich s.n., Harveys Creek und am unteren Russell River, Queensland, Australia (PRC, not seen). - This might be M. cyanoides Sm., but the description of the bracts hints to M. montanum (Lauterb.) K. Meyer which is restricted to New Guinea.

Last Page: Introduction to Melastoma. Next Page: Index of scientific names of Melastoma.

Last updated 25 November 1999
Karsten Meyer