Lachnaea ericoides Meisn.

Erect, round to straggling, corymbosely or fastigiately branched shrub, up to 0.5 m tall, single-stemmed at base; reseeder. Branches ascending to inclined, slender, ridged below leaf bases, densely covered with long ascending or adpressed hairs admixed with crooked hairs later glabrescent, densely leafy, becoming naked with prominent leaf scars. Leaves alternate, subadpressed or ascending, usually falcate (apex curled inward), occasionally lower leaves of young plants straight, imbricate, sessile, epistomatic, narrowly-elliptic to obovate, 2-6(-8) x 0.8-1.5 mm, coriaceous, green, glabrous with tuft of hairs at apex which may become naked later; adaxially concave, smooth, dull, ± white-punctulate; abaxially convex, keeled, glossy, subpapillate; apex rounded or acute in straight leaves; base cuneate. Inflorescence a terminal, sessile, ebracteate, 2-8-flowered umbel with up to 4 open flowers at a time, on main flowering branches or also on lateral flowering branches restricted to area immediately below main inflorescence. Flowers subactinomorphic, cream. Pedicel 0.3-0.6 mm long, sericeous. Hypanthium 1.8-2.4 mm long, circumscissile 0.5-0.67, from base: upper portion funnel-shaped, covered on outside with silky, straight, adpressed or crooked hairs, adpressed hirsute inside; basal portion oblong or narrowly ovoid to ovoid, glabrous outside and inside. Sepals erect-patent, subequal, narrowly elliptic to obovate, ovate to subrotund, 1.4-2.2 x 1.0-1.8 mm, apex rounded or obtuse, adaxially shortly tomentose to sparsely hairy, abaxially covered with crooked hairs admixed with long, silky, adpressed hairs. Stamens exserted; outer, antesepalous whorl arising at base of sepals, 0.8-1.2 mm long; inner, antepetalous whorl arising at rim of hypanthium, 0.5-0.9 mm long (inner stamens the shortest); anthers, spheroid, 0.3-0.6 mm long, abaxially without broad connective tissue. Floral scales exserted, arising at mouth of hypanthium immediately below antepetalous stamens, obovoid or subspheroid, 0.2-0.5 mm long, glabrous, translucent-white in fresh state. Ovary narrowly ellipsoid to obovoid, 0.7-0.8 mm long, glabrous. Style terete-obconical, 1.4-2.1 mm long, with ascending incurled hairs in the upper half. Stigma capitate and elongate-papillate with a few sparse hairs.