Lachnaea alpina Meisn.

Erect, much-branched shrub up to 1 m tall, single-stemmed at base with capacity to sprout from base of old branches; reseeder. Branches ascending, slender, later becoming woody, ridged below leaf bases, glabrous or at first hirsute below inflorescence becoming glabrous, densely leafy, becoming naked with prominent leaf scars. Leaves alternate, ascending, imbricate, subsessile, epistomatic, glabrous, narrowly elliptic to obovate, 5-10 x 1.5-3.0 mm, coriaceous, green, faintly midveined; adaxially flat or obtusely concave, dull, white-punctate; abaxially flat or obtusely convex, glossy, smooth; apex rounded to acute, straight or slightly incurved; base attenuate. Inflorescence a terminal, ebracteate capitulum, 15-25 mm diam., ±12-40-flowered, pedunculate; peduncle 3-20 mm long, sericeous-hirsute. Receptacle subconical, 2.0-3.2 x 2.2-3.5 mm, sericeous. Flowers sessile, subactinomorphic to zygomorphic, pale blue, mauve or cream, strongly honey-scented. Hypanthium 4.3-6.8 mm long, circumscissile 1/3-1/2 from base; upper portion funnel-shaped; basal portion ellipsoid, sericeous-villosulous outside, adpressed hairy inside above plane of circumscission, glabrous below. Sepals patent, equal to unequal, abaxially sericeous-villosulous, adaxially sericeous, elliptic, ovate or obovate, apex acute to rounded, anterior and lateral sepals ± equal, 2.9-5.4 x 1.4-3.0, posterior one smallest, 2.1-3.8 x 1.3-3.0 mm. Stamens exserted; outer, antesepalous whorl arising near base of sepals; inner, antepetalous whorl arising at rim of hypanthium; filaments 0.7-2.0 mm long, inner whorl as long as or slightly shorter than outer whorl; anthers depressed spheroid, 0.4-0.5 mm long, abaxially without broad connective tissue. Floral scales exserted, arising at mouth of hypanthium immediately below antepetalous stamens, obovoid, 0.4-0.6 mm long, hirsute, yellow in fresh state. Ovary obovoid, 0.9-1.5 mm long, apex sericeous, glabrous below. Style filiform, covered with silky, ascending hairs. Stigma brush-.