Family · Melastomataceae
Melastomataceae
Melastomes
One of the largest and most abundant plant families in the Neotropics, and one of the most consistently present in Andean cloud forest. *Miconia*, its largest genus, is the largest genus of flowering plants restricted to the Neotropics.
It is also, unusually, a family that can be recognised from a single leaf. The blade carries three to nine main veins running from the base towards the tip rather than branching off a midrib — acrodromous venation — with fine cross-veins between them giving a quilted or ladder-like surface. The pattern holds across a family whose flowers and fruits vary enormously, and it is visible from several metres away.
Melastomes are among the first woody plants to occupy a gap, a landslide or an abandoned pasture, and their berries are heavily taken by birds. In a landscape that is a mosaic of regrowth, they do much of the repair work.
Species
0 of 1 published
