Lachnaea sociorum Beyers

Erect, compact, moderately branched shrub up to 0.6 m tall, multistemmed at base; resprouting after fire. Branches erect, slender, ridged below leaf bases, covered with long, straight, adpressed hairs admixed with crooked ones, densely leafy, becoming naked with prominent leaf scars. Leaves alternate, ascending or occasionally inclined to patent, with apex curled inward, imbricate, sessile, lanceolate to narrowly elliptic or occasionally elliptic to obovate, 3.6-6.0 x 0.9-2.4 mm, coriaceous, green, those below inflorescence sometimes tinged maroon, glabrous; adaxially concave, smooth, dull, ± white-punctulate; abaxially convex, faintly 3-ribbed or towards apex subkeeled, glossy, subpapillate; apex acute; base cuneate. Inflorescence a terminal, sessile, ebracteate, 6-14-flowered umbel with up to 9 open flowers at a time, on main flowering branches. Flowers subactinomorphic, white, skunk-scented. Pedicel 0.3-0.7 mm long, sericeous. Hypanthium 2.5-3.7 mm long, circumscissile, 1/5-1/4 from base; upper portion funnel-shaped, tomentose outside, adpressed hirsute inside; basal portion oblong, glabrous, rarely tomentose outside, glabrous inside. Sepals patent, subequal, widely ovate or subrotund, 1.7-3.0 x 1.7-3.2 mm, apex rounded or obtuse, adaxially and abaxially tomentose. Stamens exserted; outer, antesepalous whorl arising at base of sepals, 0.7-1.5 mm long; inner, antepetalous whorl arising at rim of hypanthium, 0.5-1.2 mm long (inner stamens the shortest or equal to shortest of outer stamens); anthers widely ellipsoid, 0.4-0.6 mm long, abaxially without broad connective tissue. Floral scales exserted, arising at mouth of hypanthium immediately below antepetalous stamens, obovoid or subglobose, 0.3-0.5 mm long, glabrous, translucent-white when fresh. Ovary’ ellipsoid or obovoid, 0.9-1.4 mm long, glabrous. Style terete-obconical, 2.0-2.9 mm long, with straight, adpressed or incurled hairs in upper 1/2-2/3. Stigma brush-like.