Lachnaea montana Beyers

Erect, moderately branched shrub up to 0.6 m tall, single-stemmed at base; reseeder. Branches ascending to inclined, semi-rigid, terete, internodes quarter to three-quarters as long as leaves, at first covered with short, crisped or straight hairs later glabrescent, leafy, becoming naked without prominent leaf scars. Leaves decussate, adpressed or ascending, scattered sessile, epistomatic, narrowly elliptic or lanceolate, 4.2-15.0 x 1.0-2.4 mm, coriaceous, glabrous; adaxially concave, enervate, ± white-punctulate, dull; abaxially convex, enervate or subkeeled towards apex, glossy; apex mucronate; base rounded; distal leaf pair subtending inflorescence bract-like, elliptic or obovate, 6.5-12.0 x 3.5-8.5 mm, coriaceous, green; adaxially concave, glabrous; abaxially convex, keeled, glabrous to tomentose abaxially; margin membranous, more so in upper half, yellow tinged maroon; apex mucronate or cuspidate; base cuneate. Inflorescence a terminal, sessile, bracteate, up to ±40-flowered, capitulum-like umbel with up to 20 open flowers at a time, up to 30 mm diam., on main flowering branches or also on a few short lateral branches immediately below main inflorescence, forming a compact glomerule at apex of main flowering branch; bracteate umbel appears to be enclosed at base by 2 pairs of involucral bracts but only 1 pair immediately below flowers may be regarded as true bracts, as vegetative shoots develop in axils of subdistal pair. Involucral bracts 2, elliptic to widely ovate or obovate,7.5-12.0 x 4-6 mm, coriaceous, green; adaxially concave, glabrous; abaxially convex, keeled, glabrous to tomentose abaxially; margin membranous, more so in upper half, yellow tinged maroon; apex mucronulate or cuspidate; base cuneate. Flowers ± actinomorphic, cream, mauve or dirty violet, pedicellate. Pedicel linear, abaxially produced beyond insertion of flower, 0.8-3.5 mm long, densely villous, elongating in fruiting stage. Hypanthium 7-17 mm long, circumscissile 1/5-1/3 from base; upper portion narrowly funnel-shaped, sericeous or sericeous-hirsute outside, sericeous inside; basal portion narrowly ellipsoid to ovoid, outside puberulent in upper quarter, rest glabrous, glabrous inside. Sepals patent, ± equal to subequal, adaxially glabrous, abaxially sericeous, narrowly elliptic to elliptic, 3.5-8.0 x 1.5-4.0 mm, acute to rounded. Stamens exserted; outer, antesepalous whorl arising at base of sepals; inner, antepetalous whorl arising at rim of hypanthium, shorter than outer whorl; outer filaments 2.2-1.7 mm long, inner 1.2-3.1 mm long; anthers ellipsoid, 0.8-1.2 mm long, abaxially without broad connective tissue. Floral scales exserted, arising in mouth of hypanthium immediately below antepetalous stamens, linear, 0.4-2.1 mm long, glabrous, translucent in fresh state. Ovary narrowly ellipsoid to obovoid, 1.1-2.3 mm long, glabrous. Style linear, 5.5-16.0 mm long, sericeous in upper half to upper three-quarters, rest glabrous. Stigma brush-like.