ABSTRACT
As more plants were found during exploration of the world, people realized that the Caribbean plants did not fit in Melastoma. Finally, in 1828, the genus Tetrazygia was created by L.C.M.Richard and A.-P. de Candolle, based on T. tetrandra. Belgian researcher Célestin Alfred Cogniaux (1841-1916) moved the Florida species to Tetrazygia in 1891. Now the genus contains 25 species, and it is known from Florida and the West Indies (Mabberley 1997).
