Diascia esterhuyseniae K.E.Steiner

Rhizomatous perennial herb, crown of rootstock eventually woody and up to 25 x 15 mm in cross-section, stems one to many from the crown, tufted, simple or sparingly branched, up to 1000 mm long, rectangular in cross-section with a ridge on each corner, up to ca 2 mm on a side, erect to decumbent, often climbing or scrambling up through shrubs. Leaves opposite and decussate, glabrous or with a few scattered glandular trichomes, lamina ca. 7.5-30 x 7-27 mm, ovate, apex acute to acuminate, base truncate to cordate, margins serrate, serrations often apiculate; petioles 1.0-3.0 mm long. Flowers in lax terminal racemes, with up to 4 open per raceme at one time; lowermost bract leaf-like, up to 8 x 4 mm, upper bracts reduced, ca. 3.0-5.2 x 2.0-3.0, broadly ovate, apex long acuminate. ca. as long or slightly longer than the lamina, base truncate to cordate, margins with 2 prominent teeth on each side near the base, glandular pubescent, pedicels ca. 11-31 mm long, filiform, glandular pubescent, ascending or spreading, curving upwards distally in fruit. Calyx lobes five, upper lobe ca. 30-3.2 x 1.1-1.2 mm, lateral lobes ca. 3.5-3.7 x 1.1-1.2 mm, lower lobes slightly longer and wider, ca. 3.7-4.0 x 1.4-1.6 mm, all lobes reflexed, lanceolate, acute, glandular pubescent. Corolla bilabiate, limb ca. 15-21 mm x 13-21 mm, upper lobes ca. 3.9-5.5 x 4.3-6.1 mm, oblong to ovate, apex rounded, base strongly oblique, lateral lobes ca. 5.2-7.3 x 6.0-8.4 mm, broadly ovate, apex rounded to subacute, base ± perpendicular to the axis of the lobe, lower lobe ca. 10.2-12.2 x 10.3-14.2 mm, broadly ovate to obovate, apex rounded, base ± perpendicular to the axis of the lobe, bearing a central patch of dark sessile glandular trichomes, all lobes pink to rose on the front and pinkish white to pale red on the back, glandular-puberulous, tube below the upper lip forming a shallow depression or concavity ca. 1.5-1.9 x 2.4 mm, with each side further depressed to form a translucent ‘window’, the two windows separated or rarely confluent, yellow with occasional red flecks; tube at base of lateral lobes spurred, spurs ca. 4.4-7.6 mm long (measured along inner side), projecting backwards and curving down and out, with a patch of dark purple sessile glandular trichomes on the inner face near the tips, gland patch ca. 2.4-4.3 mm long, greyish magenta from the outside; central portion of tube invaginated to form a stamen-bearing boss, boss ca. 1.9 mm high anticous to the stamens and 2.6-3.2 mm high posticous to the stamens, tube below lower lip raised slightly to form a palate-like extension of the lower lobe that is shallowly channelled below to accommodate the filaments. Stamens four, projecting outwards and curving upwards distally; anticous filaments ca 2.3-2.6 mm long, twisted at the base to bring them into posticous position, ± straight except at base, posticous filaments (appearing anticous) ca. 1.7-2.1 mm long, bent upwards and somewhat outwards from the middle, all filaments glandular pubescent with black-capped trichomes: anthers ca. 0.5-1.0 mm long, strongly cohering, pollen yellow. Ovary ca. 1.1-1.2 x 0.9-1.0 mm, falciform-oblong to falciform-ovate in outline, green, with ca. 13-19 ovules; style ca. 1.5-1.8 mm long, stigma capitate, surrounded by the coherent anthers. Capsule ca. 4.6-8.9 x 3.5 mm, oblong to ovate in outline. Seeds ca. 1.2-1.6 mm long. ca. 4-13 per capsule, heavily and irregularly ridged (not winged), with a small pore in the centre of the ventral face.