Monochaetum
(from monos, one, and chaite, a bristle; in allusion to the shape of the connective of the stamen). ORD. Melastomaceae. A genus comprising about twenty-three species of erect, branched, often tomentose or pubescent, greenhouse shrubs and sub-shrubs, natives of the mountains of Peru, New Grenada, Venezuela, Mexico, and Guatemala. Flowers violet or purple, paniculate, sometimes in fours; calyx tube campanulate, lobes four; petals four, obovate. Leaves ovate or lanceolate, five to seven-nerved. The species are of easy culture, thriving best in a compost of two parts good fibrous peat, one of light loam, and one of leaf mould. Propagated by cuttings, placed in sandy peat, under a glass, in heat.
M. alpestre (rock).* fl. bright red, solitary, terminal, 1 1/2in. to 2in. across. l. very shortly stalked, rather obtuse, broad or ovatelanceolate, three to five-nerved; margin obscurely sinuate-crenate, and ciliated. Mexico. A small, compact, much-branched shrub, the young growths more or less tinged with red.
M. dicranantherum (dicranantherous). A synonym of M. Hartwegianum. M. Hartwegianum (Hartweg's).* fl. bright rose-colour, the upper half of the plant, or more, consisting of a series of small flowering panicles, collectively forming an oblong large panicle, mixed with a few leaves. Winter. l. shortly-stalked, elliptic-lanceolate, rigid, bright green above, pale beneath. Andes. A beautiful dwarf shrub. (B. M. 5506, under name of M. dicranantherum.) M. Humboldtianum (Humboldt's).* fl. rich reddish-purple, produced in great abundance; square stems and calyces beautifully tinged with vivid red. l. bright green, oblong-acuminate, five to seven-nerved. October to December. Caraccas, 1863. (B. M. 5367.) M. Lemonianum (Lemon's). fl. deep rich violet rose. Winter and early spring. M. sericeum multiflorum (many-flowered silky).* fl. rich mauve, produced in great profusion during the early spring months. A garden variety. M. tenellum (delicate). fl. rich purple, disposed at the ends of the branches and branchlets in few-flowered cymes, rarely solitary. October. l. oblong-ovate, acute, five-nerved; margin ciliate-setose. Guatemala.