Vasilis Teodoridis:
Melastomataceae | Memecylon
9. Memecylon scutellatum (Loureiro) Hooker & Arnott; Bot. Beechey Voy. 186. 1833.
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Scutula scutellata Loureiro; Fl. Cochinch. 1: 235. 1790; Memecylon edule Roxburgh var. scutellatum (Loureiro) Triana.
Shrubs or rarely trees; 1.5-4 m tall; many-branched. Branches 4-sided; later terete; bark glaucous. Petiole 3-5 mm; leaf blade elliptic to ovate-lanceolate; 2-5 x 1-3 cm; leathery; both surfaces densely small tuberculate and scabrous; base broadly cuneate; margin entire; apex obtuse; rounded; or retuse. Inflorescences axillary; cymose; up to 8 mm; peduncle base often setose. Pedicel 1-2 mm; glabrous. Hypanthium shallowly cup-shaped; ca. 2 x 3 mm; glabrous; apically truncate; repand; and 4-apiculate. Petals purple to blue; broadly ovate; ca. 2.5 mm. Stamens ca. 3 mm; filaments ca. 2 mm; anthers and conic connective ca. 1 mm; with a small concave abaxial gland. Fruit a baccate drupe; globular; 6-7 mm in diam.; densely tuberculate. Fl. (Mar-)Jun-Aug; fr. (Nov-)Jan-Mar.
Sparse to dense forests; thickets; grassy areas; open slopes; streamsides; ca. 300 m. Guangdong; Guangxi; Hainan [Cambodia; Laos; Malaysia; Myanmar; Thailand; Vietnam].