Natural History Notes

Melastoma malabathricum is a very common shrub in open places including forest edge, wasteland and rural road. Also known as Indian Rhododendron, its distribution includes the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, Polynesia and Hawaii. The flowers and leaves of Melastoma malabathricum . It resembles Clidemia hirta in certain characteristics for both of them are members of the Melastomataceae family. For example, the leaves are opposite in arrangement with 3-5 parallel veins. M. malabathricum , however, has brownish red stems covered with tiny scales. The 5 petalled, purple flowers are very showy, and they are held at the end of the twigs. Ten yellow stamens are present on each flower; 5 of those are longer with the upper half are purple and curved. The black berry of Melastoma malabathricum contains numerous tiny seeds. The evergreen Melastoma  malabathricum does not seem to have any definite flowering and fruiting season. Since the flowers and fruits are used a...

The white flowers of Clidemia hirta Clidemia hirta or also known as Koster's Curse is a locally widespread invasive species that originated from the Central and South Americas. A number of factors contributed to its successful dispersion. For example, the fruits of Clidemia hirta contain numerous tiny seeds and they are produced throughout the year; it also has broad habitat preference from edges of the rainforest to plantations. Besides that, there are many dispersal agents which feed on its fruits and then disperse the seeds including birds such as bulbuls and flowerpeckers. Ripe fruits of Clidemia hirta Clidemia hirta usually grows not more than 2 meters tall. It is a hairy shrub - the stems, leaves and fruits are covered with fine hairs. Like many members of the Melastomataceae family, the leaves are opposite in arrangement, and the veins arise from the base of the leaves, running parallel with each other toward the apex. The white flowers, with five pe...