Manulea exigua Hilliard

Annual herb, stems 1 to c. 12 tufted from the base, 25-370 mm long, main stem usually erect, laterals often decumbent or ascending, simple to branched, lowermost part glandular-puberulous, hairs up to 0.3-0.4 mm long, soon mixed with balloon-tipped hairs up to 0.3 mm long, apical cell round or elliptic and up to 0.2 mm in diam., these hairs rapidly dominant upwards, any glandular hairs up to 0.1 mm long and inconspicuous, leafy particularly near the base but a few distant leaves often straggling upwards, subtending any branches and passing into inflorescence bracts. Leaves (lower) opposite, bases connate, either opposite or alternate upwards, blade 5-60 x 3-35 mm, broadly to narrowly elliptic tapering to a flat petiolar part 4-25 mm long (roughly half length of blade), apex obtuse to subacute, margins coarsely serrate or doubly serrate, sometimes lobulate or nearly lyrate, both surfaces puberulous with balloon-and gland-tipped hairs up to 0.2-0.5 mm long. Flowers many in long terminal thyrses or sometimes racemes in flowering seedlings, the lowermost few flowers in thyrses often solitary, thyrses simple or ± panicled, cymules 2-11-flowered, monochasial or dichasial. Bracts (lowermost) often leaflike albeit reduced in size, in small plants in particular commonly oblong-lanceolate, c. 3-13 x 0.2-1.5 mm. Peduncles or pedicels (lowermost) c. (1-)3-12 mm long. Calyx obscurely bilabiate, tube 0.2-0.75 mm long, lobes 1.5-3.6 x 0.3-0.8 mm, oblong, ± obtuse, margins glandular-puberulous, hairs up to 0.1 mm long, backs of lobes with balloon-tipped hairs up to 0.2 mm long, apical cell c. 0.1 mm in diameter, small glistening glands particularly on tube. Corolla tube 2.75-4 x 0.7-0.8 mm in throat, cylindric, expanded near apex, limb bilabiate, 3.5-6.5 mm across lateral lobes, posticous lobes 1.8-3.2 x 1-1.75 mm, anticous lobe 1.6-3 x 0.7-1.5 mm, all lobes broadly oblong-elliptic to lanceolate, apex obtuse to acute, margins flat, white, back of tube orange or yellow often marked with a dark violet patch, tube and backs of lobes puberulous with balloon-tipped hairs up to 0.1 mm long, inside with 3 or 4 longitudinal bands of clavate hairs. Stamens 4, anticous anthers 0.25-0.3 mm long, just included, posticous anthers 0.5-0.75 mm long, included, posticous filaments bearded. Stigma 0.6-1 mm long, included, tip occasionally bifid. Style 0.2-0.5 mm long, shorter than stigma. Ovary 0.8-1 x 0.5-0.8 mm. Capsules c. 2.5-3 x 1.5-2.2 mm. Seeds 0.5-0.8 x 0.3-0.5 mm, pallid or blue-violet.