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Family:

Melastomataceae (Magnoliophyta)

Accepted Name:

This name is currently accepted.

Description:

Description Author and Date: D. Penneys, Oct. 2011, modified from Penneys & Judd, 2005.

Type: Guadeloupe, de Ponthieu s.n. (holotype, BM; photo of holotype at BM, A!).

Description: Evergreen shrubs or small trees to 5 m high; bark gray to brown, smooth to shallowly, longitudinally fissured; young twigs reddish, becoming brown, with an indumentum of inconspicuous, closely adpressed to sunken, multicellular, stellate hairs (0.03)0.05 - 0.08(0.11) mm in diameter, these appearing as punctations with age, and twigs finally glabrous; nodes (2.20)3.0 - 4.40(5.54) mm in diameter with pubescence similar to that on twigs, the hairs (0.03)0.05 - 0.06(0.10) mm in diameter. Leaf blade chartaceous to coriaceous, narrowly ovate to elliptic or widely elliptic, (3.2)5.4 - 10.6(12.6) cm long, (2.0)3.2 - 5.3(7.1) cm wide, ± plane, sometimes very slightly curved abaxially near margin, dark, glossy green with midrib, secondary veins, tertiary veins, and margins often reddish; apex attenuate, acute to obtuse, the tip short-acuminate to acuminate; base acute to obtuse, cuneate to rounded, sometimes slightly decurrent; adaxial surface of young blades with closely adpressed stellate hairs with broad base and short arms, mature leaves appearing glabrous, with black or red punctations common near base; abaxial surface of young blades similar to adaxial, with stellate hairs (0.05)0.06 - 0.16(0.25) mm in diameter, mature leaves retaining stellate hairs, some becoming sessile-glandular hairs due to the abscission of the arms, these hairs red to black, often sunken in pits, (0.03)0.05 - 0.11(0.13) mm in diameter; margin plane to occasionally slightly revolute, entire to slightly crenate in distal ¼ of blade; venation basal to slightly suprabasal with 2 pairs of secondary veins, and 1 pair of inconspicuous submarginal secondary veins, the tertiary veins (20)22 - 29(34), intergrading with quaternary veins at base and apex. Petiole (0.5)1.1 - 2.4(2.8) cm long, usually reddish, moderately pubescent, with hairs similar to those on twigs and blades, these evenly distributed on all parts of petiole and (0.03)0.06 - 0.11(0.16) mm in diameter. Inflorescence terminal, cymose, loosely corymbose to paniculate, (2.7)3.7 - 7.7(9.8) cm long, (2.3)2.6 - 4.1(5.2) cm wide, with 2 - 3 orders of branching, the caducous bracts to ca 1.0 mm long; peduncle (0.4) 0.7 - 2.0(2.4) cm long, first internode above peduncle (0.68) 0.75 - 2.50(2.80) cm long, first lateral internode (1.0)1.1 - 2.3(2.5) cm long, the flowers (11)17 - 36(39) per inflorescence. Pedicels (3.25)4.34 - 9.50(9.88) mm long, with stellate hairs (0.05)0.06 - 0.13(0.16) mm in diameter. Hypanthium (3.74)4.54 - 6.14(7.27) mm long as measured from base to torus, (2.32)3.09 - 5.07(6.0) mm wide, the indumentum of stellate hairs, dense near pedicel attachment, progressively sparser approaching calyx lobes, these (0.05)0.06 - 0.10(0.14) mm in diameter, the portion of hypanthium free from ovary (0.80)0.93 - 1.47(1.59) mm long; inner hypanthium smooth to granular textured, torus to calyx apex length (1.82)2.06 - 2.97(3.57) mm, torus to calyx notch length (0.31)0.56 - 1.50(2.07) mm. Calyx lobes (0.66)1.25 - 1.87(2.07) mm long, (2.50)3.13 - 4.34(4.80) mm wide, lobes broadly triangular, the apex emarginate to acute, the indumentum similar to that of hypanthium, the external calyx teeth (0.19)0.47 - 1.03(1.47) mm long, bluntly pyramidal with apex directed upwards. Petals scarlet red, irregularly broadly elliptic, to broadly ovate, or orbiculate (11.38)11.75 - 14.0(16.0) mm long, (5.88)7.75 - 10.0(11.25) mm wide. Stamens (16.0)20.0 - 26.5(28.5) mm long; filaments cream, 17 - 24 mm long, with proximal filament segment (0.67)0.7 - 0.94(1.03) mm wide, distal segment (0.45)0.53 - 0.73(0.76) mm wide; anthers yellow, (2.04)2.2 - 2.91(3.07) mm long, (0.46)0.64 - 0.76(0.81) mm wide, longitudinal slits (1.66)1.9 - 2.44(2.63) mm long. Ovary (2.22)2.8 - 4.34(5.14) mm long, (1.28)1.6 - 2.35(2.67) mm wide, style cream, (17.0)21.0 - 27.5(30.0) mm long, (0.67)0.7 - 0.94(1.02) mm wide. Berries 4 - 7 mm in diameter. Seeds 0.8 - 0.9 mm long, 0.2 - 0.4 mm wide. See Figs. 1, 2, 7, 9.

Habitat and Distribution: Charianthus alpinus ranges throughout the middle islands of the Lesser Antilles from Guadeloupe to St. Vincent (Fig. 9). It occurs on volcanic slopes in tropical premontane to montane rain forest, primarily from about 500 to 900 meters. On Guadeloupe, the elevational range is higher than on any other island - almost all collections are from 1,000 to 1,200 meters. The species does not seem to be weedy and may be found persisting in primary forest light gaps, as well as in typical secondary areas, although not in dense populations.

Phenology: Charianthus alpinus, frequently collected due to its attractiveness, is known to have different reproductive times throughout its range from Guadeloupe to St. Vincent. The northernmost populations on the island of Guadeloupe have been collected in flower or fruit in every month except August, while on neighboring Dominica reproduction occurs from April through August. Reproduction is rather spotty in St. Lucia, and in the southernmost part of its range on St. Vincent the collections of this species indicate a pronounced tendency to be reproductive from October through April.

Taxonomy and Systematics: For a beautiful illustration of this very attractive plant, see Plate 14 in Humboldt and Bonpland (1816-1823).