Diascia aliciae Hiern

Perennial herb, stems one to several from the crown, simple or branched, up to 1200 mm long, rectangular in cross-section with a ridge on each corner, up to ca. 4 mm on a side, erect to decumbent or scrambling up through other shrubs, glabrous. Leaves opposite and decussate, glabrous, gradually reduced in size upwards, lamina (12-)28-44(-70) x (6.5-)24-38(-48) mm, ovate to deltoid, apex acute, base truncate to cordate, margins serrate, serrations apiculate; petioles 1.0-5.0 mm long, with a tuft of glandular trichomes in the axils and on adjacent node. Flowers mostly alternate in lax racemes or panicles, racemes up to 180 mm long; bracts glabrous, lowermost subtending the racemes, mostly leaf-like, ca. 5.5-19.0 x 2.5-8.0 mm, opposite, ovate, apex acute, base cordate, margins serrate, uppermost subtending flowers smaller, ca. 3.5-7.0 x 1.0-3.5 mm, ovate, apex long acuminate, base truncate to cordate, margins serrate or entire; pedicels ca. 4.0-18 mm long, filiform, ascending, becoming more horizontal and perpendicular to the developing capsule in fruit, glandular pubescent. Calyx lobes five, upper lobe ca. 2.0-3.0 x 0.6-0.8 mm, lateral lobes ca. 2.2-3.1 x 0.6-0.8 mm, lower lobes slightly wider, ca. 2.5-3.5 x 0.8-1.0 mm, upper three lobes spreading, lower two reflexed, all lobes lanceolate, apex acute to long acuminate, margins narrowly hyaline and minutely serrulate due to the presence of stiff trichomes, otherwise ± glabrous. Corolla bilabiate, limb ca. 10.7-15.5 x 10.2-11.9 mm; upper lobes ca. 2.5-3.1 x 2.12.9 mm, oblong to ovate, apex obtuse, base strongly oblique; lateral lobes ca. 2.8-4.2 x 3.6-4.5 mm, broadly ovate to deltoid, apex obtuse to acute, base ± perpendicular to the axis of the lobe or only slightly oblique; lower lobe ca. 5.0-7.9 x 4.2-7.5, broadly oblong or obovate to ovate, apex rounded to subacute, base perpendicular to the axis of the lobe; all lobes purplish pink on front and purplish white to purplish grey on rear; base of upper lobes purplish red to greyish magenta; tube below upper lobes distended to form an elliptic, shallowly concave, translucent region or ‘window’, window ca. 1.0-1.4 x 2.3-2.5 mm, yellow on inside, greenish-yellow on the outside, mostly obscured on inside by the erect stamens; tube at base of lateral lobes spurred; spurs ca. 5.7-7.9 mm long (measured along inner side), projecting back in parallel and curving first down and then forward, sometimes curving inward at the tips, white, with a patch of pale yellow to purple glandular trichomes on the inner face near the tip; gland patch ca. 2.0-2.6 mm long; tube below the lower lobe invaginated and raised to form a rounded triangular-shaped keel-like extension of the lower corolla lobe, keel ca. 2.0 mm long, with a small inconspicuous patch of at. 18-60 glandular trichomes near the apex; trichomes clear, pale yellow or purple: central portion of tube weakly invaginated to form a shallow poorly developed stamen-bearing boss, boss ca. 0.7 mm high anticous to the stamens and 0.8 mm high posticous to the stamens, greyish ruby to bluish-red. Stamens four, ± erect, anticous (appearing posticous) filaments ca 2.4-2.7 mm long, ± straight except at the base, posticous (appearing anticous) filaments ca. 1.5-1.6 mm long, strongly bent upwards from the middle, all filaments greyish magenta, covered with glandular trichomes; anthers ca. 0.5-0.6 mm long, yellow, strongly coherent around the stigma, stigma capitate. Ovary ca 0.9-1.8 x 0.7-0.8 mm, elliptic in outline with ca. 9-13 ovules: style ca. 1.6-2.1 mm long, deflected upwards, stigma curving forwards. Capsule ca. 3.5-6.7 x 2.5-4.0 mm, ovate in outline. Seeds ca 1.1-1.4 mm long, curved, with concentric ridges flanking a central pore on the ventral face, not winged.