Manulea deserticola Hilliard

Annual herb, stems several to many from the crown, tufted in discrete rosettes, c. 30-110 mm long, erect or decumbent, simple, minutely puberulous with a mixture of many gland-tipped and few balloon-tipped hairs, leafless except at base. Leaves opposite, bases connate, crowded at ground level, blade c. 4-25 x 2.5-12 mm, elliptic to oblanceolate tapering to a flat petiolar part c. 6-20 mm long (about equalling to up to twice as long as blade), apex rounded to very obtuse, margins entire to obscurely serrate or crenate, both surfaces minutely glandular-puberulous, with a few minute balloon-tipped hairs as well. Flowers many in terminal racemes, distant. Bracts (lowermost) c. 1-2 x 1 mm, broadly lanceolate. Pedicels (lowermost) c. 1-1.5 mm long. Calyx obscurely bilabiate, tube 0.2-0.5 mm long, lobes 2.2-2.9 x 0.4-0.6 mm, oblong-lanceolate, margins minutely glandular-puberulous, balloon-tipped hairs less than 0.1 mm long also present, particularly on backs of lobes and outside of tube. Corolla tube 4.5-5.2 x 0.8-0.9 mm in throat, cylindric, expanded at apex, limb bilabiate, 6.2-8.5 mm across lateral lobes, posticous lobes 4-4.8 x 0.7-1 mm, anticous lobes 3.5-3.8 x 0.6-1 mm, all lobes lanceolate, tip ± acute or retuse, margins flat to ± revolute, 'brown yellow', back of tube orange/yellow, corolla tube and lobes minutely pubescent outside, hairs less than 0.1 mm long, balloon-tipped, inside 4 longitudinal bands of clavate hairs in throat. Stamens 4, anticous anthers 0.3-0.4 mm long, just included, posticous anthers 0.7-1 mm long, included, posticous filaments bearded. Stigma 1-1.7 mm long, deeply included. Style 0.2-0.6 mm long, much shorter than stigma. Ovary 1.4-1.6 x 0.8-1 mm. Capsules c. 3.5-5 x 2-3 mm. Seeds c. 0.3-0.5 x 0.3 mm, blue-violet.