Lachnaea filamentosa Meisn.

Erect, sparsely to moderately branched shrub up to 2 m tall, single-stemmed or multistemmed at base; reseeder or resprouter. Branches ascending, semi-rigid to rigid, terete or ridged below leaf bases, glabrous, leafy, becoming naked with prominent leaf scars. Leaves alternate, ascending, imbricate or patent with tips turned upward, closely set, sessile, amphistomatic, glabrous, 7-40 x 2-13 mm, narrowly elliptic to elliptic, narrowly obovate to obovate, narrowly ovate or occasionally ovate, coriaceous, flat, glaucous or dull green, sometimes those below inflorescence tinged blue; adaxially enervate, dull, ± white-punctulate; abaxially enervate or faintly nerved, glossy, occasionally ± white-punctulate; apex subacute, acute or mucronulate; base cuneate, occasionally attenuate. Inflorescence a terminal, ebracteate capitulum, usually more than 50-flowered with 10 to more than 50 open flowers at a time, 30-100 mm diam., basally enclosed by foliage leaves, pedunculate; peduncle 1-15 mm long, sericeous. Receptacle narrowly conical to conical, 5-25 x 2-11 mm, puberulent. Flowers sessile, zygomorphic, blue, lilac-blue, cream or cream with a lilac or blue flush, fragrantly scented. Hypanthium 6.3-17.5 mm long, circumscissile ±0.2-0.3 from base; upper portion narrowly funnel-shaped, covered with long, ascending to patent, silky hairs admixed with shorter adpressed, crooked hairs on outside, inside densely adpressed hairy, glabrescent towards circumscission zone; basal portion ellipsoid to ovoid, sericeous outside, glabrous inside. Sepals patent, sericeous on both sides, unequal, anterior one almost twice to three times as long as other three, narrowly elliptic to elliptic or narrowly obovate, 6.5-30.0 x 2.0-10.6 mm, apex acute to rounded; lateral ones narrowly elliptic to elliptic or narrowly obovate, 3.5-10.5 x 1.0-2.8 mm, apex acute to rounded; posterior one narrowly ovate to narrowly obovate or ovate to elliptic, 3.3-8.0 x 1.0-2.5 mm, apex acute to rounded. Stamens exserted; outer, antesepalous whorl arising on sepals [anterior one arising at base to a way up, other three arising near base]; inner, antepetalous whorl arising at rim of hypanthium; filaments 1.0-5.3 mm long; anthers ellipsoid to broadly oblong, 0.6-1.5 mm long. Floral scales exserted, arising at mouth of hypanthium immediately below antepetalous stamens, narrowly obovoid to obovoid or narrowly ovoid, 0.3-1.0 mm long, with stiff hairs at apex, yellow in fresh state. Ovary ellipsoid to obovoid, 1.4-5.0 mm long, tufted at apex, also occasionally adpressed hairy along side below style attachment. Style linear, 6.2-15.6 mm long, silky pubescent in upper 0.3-0.5, lower portion glabrous. Stigma brush-like.