Manulea buchneroides Hilliard & B.L.Burtt

Perennial herb, stock conical, slender, up to 10 mm diam. at crown, stems (150-)300-450 mm tall, solitary to several, simple or very sparingly branched in upper part, puberulous, hairs both balloon-and gland-tipped, the former commonest on upper parts, leafless or with a few much reduced leaves. Leaves mainly radical, in 1 to several rosettes on the crown, opposite, bases connate, blade c. 15-70 x 4-25 mm, narrowly to broadly elliptic tapering to a petiolar part c. 2-20 mm long (up to c. 1/3 length of blade but often much shorter), margins entire to somewhat obscurely toothed, both surfaces glandular-puberulous. Flowers many in a long very narrow thyrse, the cymules dichasial, few-flowered, eventually distant, the apical, flowering, ones characteristically in a congested corymbose head. Bracts (lowermost) 3.5-10 x 0.5-1 mm. Peduncles of lowermost cymules (or pedicels when lowermost flower occasionally solitary) c. 4-7 mm long, pedicels otherwise very short, the cymules congested. Calyx very obscurely bilabiate, tube 0.4-0.5 mm long, lobes subequal, 2.6-3.75 x 0.6-0.8 mm, linear-oblong, tips somewhat spathulate, pubescent outside and on margins, hairs to 0.2-0.4(-0.5) mm, both balloon-and gland-tipped. Corolla tube 6.5-9 x 1-1.6 mm in throat, cylindric, expanded in ± upper third, limb slightly bilabiate, 6-8.5 mm across lateral lobes, posticous lobes 1.6-3 x 1.5-3 mm, anticous lobe 2-3.5 x 1.6-3 mm, all broadly obovate to subrotund, white, sometimes yellowish-green to orange/yellow at base of posticous lip and down back of throat, tube puberulous, hairs to 0.2 mm, both balloon-and gland-tipped, ± sessile glistening glands on backs of lobes, inside a posticous longitudinal band of clavate hairs, dark-coloured in lower part, 4 smaller bands in lateral and anticous positions. Stamens 4, anticous anthers 0.4-0.8 mm long, visible in mouth, posticous anthers 1.3-1.8 mm long, included, posticous filaments bearded with dark hairs. Stigma 4.1-6.5 mm long, shortly exserted or just included. Style 0.4-1.2 mm long. Ovary 1.2-1.75 x 0.8-1 mm. Capsules c. 4-5 x 3 mm. Seeds c. 0.5-0.75 x 0.3-0.4 mm, pallid. It flowers principally between October and January, thereafter there may be a few flowers as late as April as the inflorescences pass into fruit.