Stiffly branched, shortly hairy, spiny shrublet to 20 cm. Leaves opposite, ovate-elliptic, pungent, margins white. Flowers in dense axillary clusters, blue; outer bracts forming long spreading spines.
Perennial, dwarf shrub, 0.25-0.35 m high, glabrescent. Leaves ovate. Bracts narrow with a few spines on margins. Sepals ovate-lanceolate. Flowering time Dec.-May.