Blepharis diversispina C.B.Clarke

Erect to decumbent shrubby herb or shrub to 0.5(-l) m tall, sometimes forming dense cushions; young branches greyish-puberulous to sericeous or densely so. Leaves sparsely to densely greyish-sericeous or sericeous-puberulous (rarely puberulous or tomentellous); lamina lanceolate to elliptic or slightly obovate, largest 2-6.2 x 0.3-1.5 cm; margin with up to 20 spreading triangular and mucronate teeth per side (rarely some or (very rarely) all entire); some leaf-axils with rigid spines (undeveloped inflorescences). Spikes 1.5-5(-5.5) cm long, 2-10-flowered; peduncle 2-5 mm long. Lower sterile bracts modified into 2-4 pairs of rigid straw-coloured spines 7-25 (-30) mm long, upper with a reduced lamina and with a few teeth near base, lower without lamina and entire, above these with 1-2 pairs of sterile bracts more or less as fertile; fertile bracts with conspicuous transverse veins, elliptic-obovate or broadly so, lower and middle 15-34 x 9-17 mm of which the recurved spinose triangular tip 5-16 mm, on each side with 1-7 teeth of which the longest 4-8 mm long, uniformly greyish-sericeous to puberulous or densely so. Bracteoles linear to lanceolate, (8-) 10-23 x 0.5-1.5 mm. Sepals sparsely to densely sericeous to puberulous or densely so all over; dorsal 15-24 mm long, ovate-elliptic or broadly so with long ligulate to spathulate apical part which becomes scarious, apex truncate with several irregular teeth, 3-5-veined from base; ventral 11-16 mm long, ovate-elliptic, not ligulate, 2(-5)-veined from base and with 2 finely mucronate teeth 1-2.5 mm long; lateral ovate or broadly so, 6-10 mm long. Corolla pale blue to bright deep blue or dark mauve (rarely creamy white with blue veins), 20-33 mm long of which the tube 3-6 mm; limb broadly spathulate, (8-) 10-22 mm wide, central lobe wider than long or same length, truncate to retuse, narrowed at base; filaments 7-11 mm long, sparsely glandular; appendage 2.5-6 mm long, oblong, broadly rounded; anthers 3-7 mm long. Capsule 7-13 mm long; seed 6-9 x 4-5 mm.