Melastoma affine
species of plant
Melastoma affine, also known by the common names blue tongue, straits rhododendron or native lassiandra, is a shrub of the family Melastomataceae. Distributed in tropical and sub-tropical forests of the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia and Australia, it is a plant of rainforest margins. Bees are the principal pollinators of this species.
Taxonomy
Melastoma affine was first described by Scottish botanist David Don in 1823. The taxonomy of the genus Melastoma is tricky, requiring a complete revision. Early genetics studies were published from 2001, through to recently, but a revision based on them has yet to be. In 2001 Karsten Meyer proposed a revision in which this species and other species were subsumed within the species Melastoma malabathricum.
In Australia, currently most authorities do not accept this; instead the naturally occurring populations in WA, NT, Qld and northeastern NSW remain recognised as this species M. affine, except by authorities in Qld.
Synonyms
As of November 2020, the Australian Plant Census (APC) accepts the following synonyms of Melastoma affine:
Melastoma malabathricum var. nanum F.M.Bailey
Melastoma malabathricum var.
“Melastoma affine” enters the record as species of plant. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Melastoma, affine and species can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Melastoma affine” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Melastoma, affine and species provides the most credible route into that argument.
Stable identifiers, scientific names and standards terminology offer the best bridge between this overview and specialist evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Apr 25, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1039711. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1823, 2001 and 2020.
A general summary may omit uncertainty, sample limits or methodological disagreement that is explicit in the technical record. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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This entry incorporates text from “Melastoma affine” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.