MELASTOMATAC
magnoliids
monocots
MYRTALESMelastomataceae
Tibouchina - the best-known ornamental
MELASTOMATACEAE (MYRTALES, ROSIDAE unplaced)
NUMBERS: 200 Genera, 4000 species
GEOGRAPHY: widespread in tropics, most diverse in South America
HABITAT: mostly understory trees, heat and moisture requirements vary
ROSIDAE CHARACTERS: petals separate, stamens twice the petals in number
MYRTALES CHARACTERS: connate carpels, stamens at least twice the petals,
tendency to flower parts in fours, internal phloem, hypanthium or inferior ovary
APG MYRTALES RECOGNITION CHARACTERS: Myrtales may be recognised by
their often flaky bark; opposite leaves with colleters, a t most small stipules and strong
intramarginal veins; flowers with petals that are clawed or at least very narrow at the
base, a more or less inferior ovary, and a usually nectariferous hypanthium. The
sepals are often valvate and the stamens are usually incurved in bud.
CHARACTERS DIAGNOSTIC OF FAMILY:
Habit woody
Leaves opposite, with arcuate secondary ve ins and transverse (ladder-like) tertiary veins
Flowers large and showy
Androecium with poricidal anthers and appendages (like Ericaceae)
Fruit a berry or capsule
MELASTOMATACEAE
•opposite leaves
•2 pair basal secondaries
•ladder tertiaries
•staminodes or stamen appendages
•stamens 2x petals
•hypanthium/inferior ovary
MELASTOMATACEAE:
arcuate basal secondaries,
-- including a marginal vein
perpendicular tertiaries
Miconia calvescens,
introduced to Hawaii
Monochaetum
Mouriri and Memecylon
Mouriri
Memecylon
Origin of poricidal stamens and appendages in melastomes
Memecylon
Beccarianthus
Melastoma
Pollen sacs white, connective tissue and appendages shaded
Buzz pollination of Melastomataceae
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMvQSx2429U
Miconia
Miconia
Brachyotum
Blakea
Clidemia hirta, Koster’s Curse
Coster's curse growing densely under a
young albizia plantation, Hawaii Island,
Hawaii