Antherothamnus pearsonii N.E.Br.

Shrub up to 1-3 m tall, well branched, ultimate branchlets eventually rigid and subspinescent, shallowly ribbed by decurrent leaf bases, minutely glandular-puberulous (glandular hairs to 0.25 mm on coppice shoots), older branches glabrescent, bark reddish to greyish, longitudinally striate, lenticels often prominent, all but oldest stems closely leafy, old stems rough with persistent bases of fascicles. Leaves alternate, fascicled except on coppice shoots, up to 4-15 x 1-2.5(-3.5)mm, oblanceolate, obtuse to acute and sometimes apiculate, base narrowed to a petiolar part, extreme base eventually swollen and suberized (?), persistent, margins plane to subrevolute, usually entire, occasionally with 1-4 very small teeth, midrib impressed above, slightly raised below, lateral veins invisible, both surfaces glandular-punctate, small glistening glands as well, sometimes confined to midrib, base of petiole glandular-puberulous, sometimes a few small hairs on blade and margins, leaves on coppice shoots up to 10-15 x 6-7 mm, narrowly ovate in outline narrowed to a petiolar part, subacute, margins with 2-3 pairs of coarse teeth, midrib and lateral veins impressed above, raised below, both surfaces glandular-pubescent, hairs up to 0.25 mm long. Flowers sweetly scented, racemosely arranged on short (up to c. 35 mm) lateral branchlets, these often panicled, individual flowers often solitary, sometimes in 3-flowered cymes, lowermost in axil of a leaf, these soon reduced to bracts. Pedicels c. 1-5 mm long, often with 2-3 tiny bracteoles. Calyx tube c. 0.2 mm long (measured inside), lobes 1-1.4 x 0.4-0.7 mm, ± oblong, ± acute, rather fleshy and somewhat swollen on basal fused part forming tube, glabrous or with a few minute glandular hairs on margins. Corolla tube 3-1 x 2-3.4 mm in mouth, funnel-shaped, limb bilabiate, c. 4-8 mm across lateral lobes, posticous lobes 1.2-3.5 x 1.7-3 mm, anticous lobe 1.2-3.5 x 1.7-2.8 mm, all subrotund, white, at least the anticous lobe marked with 1 or 3 reddish-purple lines (sometimes all 5 lobes), the lines running back down the tube, tube yellow (deduced from dried specimens) or rarely wholly flushed purplish, glabrous outside, inside with a small tuft of clavate hairs in each sinus. Stamens inserted near base of tube, posticous filaments 1.2-2 mm long, clavate hairs at base, apex either glabrous or glandular-puberulous, anthers 0.5-0.8 mm long, anticous filaments 1-2.5 mm long, glabrous, anthers 0.4-0.7 mm long, all filaments somewhat decurrent, staminode 1.7-2.5 mm long, glandular-puberulous. Stigma c. 0.1-0.2 mm long, minutely papillose. Style 1.8-3 mm long. Ovary 0.7-1 x 0.5-0.8 mm, glabrous. Capsules 2.5-4 x 2-2.5 mm, comparatively large ± clavate unicellular hairs on placentae. Seeds (few seen) 1-1.4 x 0.5-0.8 mm.