Manulea pusilla E.Mey. ex Benth.

Annual herb, stems one to many tufted from the base, 5-120 mm tall, erect, simple or cymosely branched at the base in larger plants, puberulous with a mixture of minute gland-tipped hairs and balloon-tipped ones up to 0.1-0.2 mm long, apical cell of latter c. 0.05 mm in diam., leafy only below. Leaves opposite, bases connate, crowded near base or one or two pairs of much reduced leaves subtending a pair of branches, blade c. 3-20 x 2-10 mm, suborbicular or ovate to elliptic tapering into a flat petiolar part 3-15 mm long (about equalling to half as long as blade), apex obtuse to subacute, margins entire to obscurely serrate, rarely distinctly serrulate, both surfaces puberulous with gland-tipped hairs up to 0.2-0.25 mm long and occasional balloon-tipped hairs to 0.2-0.5 mm. Flowers many in terminal racemes accounting for nearly the whole of the length of the stem, flowers solitary in the axil of each bract. Bracts (lowermost) 1.5-5 x 0.5-1 mm, lanceolate. Pedicels (lowermost) c. 1-5 mm long. Calyx obscurely bilabiate, tube 0.3-0.5 mm long, lobes 2-3.8 x 0.5-1 mm, oblong-lanceolate, ± acute, puberulous with glandular hairs up to c. 0.1 mm long (mainly margins) and balloon-tipped hairs (all over) up to 0.15-0.25 mm long, the apical cell c. 0.05 mm in diam. Corolla tube 2.84 x 0.7-1 mm in throat, cylindric, expanded near apex, limb bilabiate, 4.8-8(-9.5) mm across the lateral lobes, which ascend leaving the anticous lobe somewhat isolated, posticous lobes 2.5-5(-7) x 0.7-1 mm, anticous lobes 2-4.5 x 0.6-0.8(-1) mm, all lobes usually lanceolate with revolute margins and subulate to the eye, occasionally at least some of the lobes retuse to distinctly bifid, varying in colour from greenish or ochre-yellow to orange, sometimes livid, back of tube yellow/orange with a dark violet patch between the posticous filaments, tube and backs of lobes puberulous with mainly balloon-tipped hairs less than 0.1 mm long, inside with 3 longitudinal bands of clavate hairs on posticous side. Stamens 4, anticous anthers 0.2-0.4 mm long, just visible in mouth, posticous anthers 0.5-0.8 mm long, included, posticous filaments usually glabrous or sometimes with a few hairs. Stigma 1-1.7 mm long, included. Style 0.1-0.5 mm long, shorter than stigma. Ovary 0.8-1.25 x 0.5-1 mm. Capsules c. 3-4 x 2-3 mm. Seeds c. 0.4-0.7 x 0.3-0.4 mm, pallid or violet-blue.