''Melastoma sanguineum'' is called red melastome or fox-tongued melastoma in English. They are erect shrubs or small slender trees with medium-sized violet-pink colored flowers with 6 petals that have made them attractive for cultivation. The leaves have the 5 distinctive longitudinal veins (nerves) typical of plants in the family Melastomataceae.

Description

''Melastoma sanguineum'' are erect shrubs or small trees up to 2 to 4 m tall. Leaves are ovate-lanceolate 10 to 20 cm long. Fruit in the form of berries 15 mm long with 6 cells and many small seeds. Chromosome number 2''n'' = 56.

Distribution

Native to

Malay Peninsula The Malay Peninsula (Malay: ''Semenanjung Tanah Melayu'') is a peninsula in Mainland Southeast Asia. The landmass runs approximately north–south, and at its terminus, it is the southernmost point of the Asian continental mainland. The area ...

, Java,

Sumatra Sumatra is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 (182,812 mi.2), not including adjacent i ...

, Vietnam, and southern

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. Occasionally cultivated in Hawaii. Naturalized populations have escaped cultivation and are spreading on

Hawaii Island Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii ) is the largest island in the United States, located in the state of Hawaii. It is the southeasternmost of the Hawaiian Islands, a chain of volcanic islands in the North Pacific Ocean. With an area of , it has 63% of t ...

in the Keaukaha area and on the highway from Hawaii Volcanoes National Park to

Hilo Hilo () is a census-designated place (CDP) and the largest settlement in Hawaii County, Hawaii, Hawaii County, Hawaii, United States, which encompasses the Hawaii (island), Island of Hawaii. The population was 44,186 according to the 2020 United ...

Taxonomy

''Melastoma sanguineum'' was first described by John Sims in 1821 (Botanical Magazine 48: pl. 2241).

References

ITIS - Integrated Taxonomic Information System Report Page ''Melastoma sanguineum'' Sims
/ref> Tropicos - Missouri Botanical Garden. Name Search > ''Melastoma sanguineum'' Sims
/ref> {{Taxonbar, from=Q11128255 sanguineum Trees of Hawaii Flora without expected TNC conservation status