Blepharis furcata Pers.

Very spiny prostrate or cushion-shaped shrub to 30 (-50) cm tall and 50 cm in diameter; young branches pale brown to dark or reddish brown, minutely puberulous or sparsely so with bulbous-based white hairs with a fine point, never with longer hairs on midrib. Leaves often greyish, minutely puberulous or sparsely so, hairs as on stems, when older conspicuously white-dotted from the hair-bases; lamina elliptic to obovate (rarely lanceolate), largest 1.5-4.5 x (0.2-)0.3-0.9 cm; margin strongly recurved, all entire or some with 1-3(-5) teeth per side (rarely all with 3-4(-5) teeth per side). Spikes 1.5-2.5 cm long (excl. bracts), 2-4(-6)-flowered; peduncle 2-5 mm long, with 3-4 pairs of gradually larger sterile bracts; ferdle bracts greenish with whitish veins, becoming brownish, often with purplish veins, subglabrous to minutely puberulous, hairs as on stems (very rarely with a few longer hairs on midrib), lower pair elliptic to obovate, 20-34 x 4-12 mm of which the straight to strongly recurved tip 11-20 mm, tip abruptly constricted below a hard apical trifurcate spine of which the central spine 8-15(-18) mm long, below tip with 1-3 teeth per side (upper spinose) of which the longest (3-)5-11 mm. Bracteoles linear-lanceolate with broadened base and a pungent mucro, 8-17(-19) x 1-2 mm, upper part sometimes purplish. Sepals purplish or pure green to brownish, uniformly minutely puberulous or sparsely so, dorsal with hairs as on stems, ventral with non-bulbous hairs, both finely puberulous-ciliate; dorsal (12-) 14-19 mm long 5(-7)-veined from base, 1-3-veined at apex (two lateral often becoming submarginal), ovate-elliptic or broadly so, ligulate and narrowing gradually to an acute to acuminate strongly mucronate pungent apex ± 1 mm long, with 1 central mucro (rarely with 2 small lateral mucros), apical part not becoming scarious; ventral 8-12 mm long, 5-7-veined from base, broadly ovate-elliptic, narrowing gradually (rarely ligulate) to a truncate apex without or with 2 small teeth up to 0.5 (-1) mm long; lateral 5-7 mm long, ovate or broadly so. Corolla creamy white to pale blue or pale purple, with brownish to purple veins, 19-27 mm long of which the tube 3-5 mm; limb obovate-spathulate, 7-12 m wide, central lobe as wide as or longer than wide, rounded to truncate or retuse, not or slightly constricted at base; filaments 6-8 mm long, glabrous or sparsely glandular apically, hairy towards base; appendage 2.5-5.5 mm long, oblong, sometimes with twisted or recurved dp, shorter or longer than anther; anthers 2.5-5 mm long. Capsule 6-8 mm long; seed 4-5 x 2.5-3 mm.