Melastoma affine

Species of shrub

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 India, South east Asia and Australia, it is a plant of rainforest margins. Bees are the principal pollinators of this species.

Melastoma affine was first described by Scottish botanist David Don in 1823. 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.

Melastoma affine is found from India through southeast Asia, Malaysia, Indonesia and into Australia. and reaches as far south as Kempsey on the New South Wales mid north coast. It produces no nectar giving pollinators large amounts of pollen instead, which must be extracted through pores on the anthers.

A fast growing and adaptable shrub, Melastoma affine is sometimes seen in cultivation. It can be propagated by seed or cuttings. Sap or an extract from the leaves is used as a herbal medicine against a number of conditions including diarrhoea, burns, ulcers, wounds, piles and thrush in Indonesia and the Solomon Islands.