Manulea decipiens Hilliard

Annual herb, stems 1-c. 15 tufted from the base, 100-410 mm tall, erect, simple but occasionally cymosely branched in lower part of inflorescence, puberulous with a mixture of gland-tipped and balloon-tipped hairs up to 0.1-0.25 mm long, apical cell of latter c. 0.05 mm in diam., glandular hairs sparser and shorter upwards, leafy only near base. Leaves opposite, bases connate, crowded near base or with 1 or 2 pairs of small leaves subtending the lowermost branches or rarely a much reduced leaf subtending lowermost flower or cymule, blade c. 9-35 x 3-17 mm, ovate to elliptic tapering into a flat petiolar part c. 3.5-20 mm long (about equalling to roughly half as long as blade), apex obtuse to subacute, margins subentire to senate, both surfaces puberulous with gland-tipped hairs up to 0.1-0.3 mm long and and occasional balloon-tipped hairs of similar size. Flowers many in long lax terminal thyrses, lowermost flower occasionally solitary, otherwise in 2-11(-23)-flowered lax monochasial or dichasial cymules, occasionally the axis cymosely branched into a ± paniculate inflorescence. Bracts (lowermost) mostly small, 1.5-5(-10) x 0.6-0.8(-1.5) mm, linear to lanceolate, very rarely with 1-2 pairs of teeth, even more rarely larger and leaf-like. Peduncles or pedicels (lowermost) 3-15 mm. Calyx obscurely bilabiate, tube 0.2-0.6 mm long, lobes 2.5-4.5 x 0.5-0.6 mm, oblong-lanceolate, ± acute, puberulous with glandular hairs up to c. 0.1 mm long (mainly margins) and balloon-tipped hairs (mainly on backs) up to 0.1-0.2 mm long, the apical cell c. 0.05 mm in diam. Corolla tube 3.5-5.5 x 0.8-0.9 mm in throat, cylindric, expanded near apex, limb bilabiate, 9-15 mm across lateral lobes, which ascend, leaving the anticous lobe somewhat isolated, posticous lobes 5-10 x 0.7-1.2 mm, anticous lobe 3-7 x 0.5-0.9 mm, all lobes long-lanceolate, subulate to eye, margins revolute, varying in colour from pale to deep yellow to greenish, orange, brown or maroon, back of tube yellow/orange often with a dark violet (or brownish?) patch between the posticous filaments, and probably streaking the base of the posticous lobes, tube and backs of lobes puberulous outside with balloon-tipped hairs less than 0.1 mm long, inside with 3 longitudinal bands of clavate hairs on posticous side. Stamens 4, anticous anthers 0.2-0.3 mm long, just visible in mouth, posticous anthers 0.6-0.7 mm long, posticous filaments normally glabrous, sometimes with a few hairs. Stigma 0.7-1.6 mm long, included. Style 0.3-0.75 mm long, shorter than stigma. Ovary 0.8-1.5 x 0.6-1 mm. Capsules c. 3-4.5 x 2 mm. Seeds c. 0.5 x 0.4 mm, violet-blue or pallid.