Blepharis procumbens Pers.

Procumbent (rarely suberect) perennial or shrubby herb with several stems from woody rootstock; stems to 1 m long, dark brown or reddish brown, minutely puberulous or sparsely so. Leaves often greyish, subglabrous to minutely puberulous; lamina narrowly elliptic-obovate, largest 1-4 x 0.1-0.5 cm; margin on all with '5-12 flexible teeth per side (rarely 1-3), longest towards base; petiole within 2 mm of stem on each side with 2-4 teeth to 7 mm long. Spikes 2-4.5 cm long, (2-)4(-6)-flowered; peduncle 4-10 mm long, with 3-7 pairs of gradually larger sterile bracts (upper almost same size as fertile), all with lamina; fertile bracts thin, papery, 5-7-veined from base with distinctly raised transverse veins, brownish to purplish, minutely puberulous, sometimes puberulous along veins, elliptic-obovate or broadly so, 16-28 x 8-16 mm of which the recurved narrowly triangular tip 3-6 mm, on each side with 12-30 thin flexible bristles of which the longest 4-9 mm, bristles alternating long and short with one long and one short close together. Bracteoles 15-25 x 1-2 mm, linear to narrowly oblanceolate, long-ciliate (to 1 mm), sometimes with 1-4 bristles per side. Sepals puberulous to pubescent (to 1 mm) and long-ciliate (to 1.5 mm); dorsal 19-25 mm long, 3-veined from base to apex, ovate-elliptic with long ligulate to spathulate apical part, apex broadly rounded to truncate, irregularly toothed or with a larger central mucro, becoming scarious; ventral 17-22 mm long, 2(-5)-veined from base, ovate, ligulate or narrowing gradually to an apex with 2 triangular and mucronate teeth 2-4 mm long, sometimes with 1-2 extra small central teeth; lateral 9-12 mm long, ovate. Corolla bright blue to violet or purple, 25-35 mm long of which the tube 5-8 mm; limb spathulate, 13-22 mm wide, central lobe wider than long or same width, truncate to retuse, irregularly toothed, narrowed at base; filaments 8-11 mm long, sparsely glandular or not, two broad hairy on the inside towards base; appendage 1.5-3.5 mm long, oblong, rounded, shorter than anther; anthers 3.5-5.5 mm long. Capsule 2(-3)-seeded, 12-16 mm long; seed 6-7 x 5-6 mm.