Brachylaena discolor Dc.

A shrub or tree to 10(12) m. tall, usually evergreen; branches brown to dark-purplish, lenticellate and narrowly sulcate, at first greyish tomentellous soon glabrescent, ± leafy throughout. Leaves with petioles mostly 5-16 mm. long; lamina mostly 5-12 x 1.3-5 cm., larger in coppice growth, oblanceolate to obovate, rarely oblong-elliptic, rounded sometimes briefly acuminate at apex, ± narrowly cuneate and usually tapering to a long petiole, entire and faintly revolute, or repand-dentate to serrate-or coarsely-dentate in the apical part, sometimes spinescent-denticulate; upper surface thinly araneose when young, or glabrous, shiny dull-green with subprominent reticulate venation; lower surface greyish tomentellous with prominent veins; lateral veins forked near the margin. Capitula numerous in dense terminal panicles 4-40 cm. long, or in short raceme-like panicles in leaf axils. Involucres mostly narrowly obconic, somewhat cyathiform in male capitula. Phyllaries thinly coriaceous, acute, lanate on the margins otherwise glabrous; from c. 1 mm. long outside, the inner increasing to c. 4 mm. long in male capitula and to 6(9) mm. long in female capitula, becoming lanceolate or tapering-lorate; the outermost 5-11 series decreasing in size and extending onto upper part of the 1-10 mm. long capitulum stalk, the lower part of the capitulum stalk often with scattered small bracts or buds; bracts below the involucre lanate. Male flowers: corollas dull-yellow, 3-5 mm. long, lobes c. 1 mm. long and ± recurved; pappus sparse, uniseriate, setae 3-4 mm. long with seta barbs ± equalling the seta axis in width. Female flowers: corollas 3-6 mm. long, terete narrowing to the apex, lobes erect up to c. 0.5 mm. long; achenes pale-brownish to purplish, 3-4 mm. long, subcylindric-subfusiform, narrowly c. 8-ribbed, sparsely puberulous; pappus several-seriate, setae 4-5(7) mm. long, ± terete, barbellate.

Can be grown by cuttings or seedlings.