Manulea tomentosa L.

Perennial, but capable of flowering in seedling stage, branching from the base and above, old plants becoming bushy shrublets, base woody and there up to c. 8 mm in diam., stems c. 30-600 mm long, erect or decumbent, villous with spreading white acute hairs up to 1-2 mm long, the inflorescence axes also usually villous, but the hairs occasionally sparse, normally leafy throughout. Leaves opposite, bases connate, often crowded, sometimes becoming more distant upwards, uppermost often alternate and passing into inflorescence bracts, c. 7-45 x 5-25 mm (12-75 x 5-15 mm), slightly smaller upwards, broadly spathulate to obovate, apex rounded (oblanceolate, apex rounded to subacute), base tapering to a broad petiolar part, margins serrate to crenate, both surfaces villous, hairs acute, up to 0.5-1.5 mm long, gland-tipped hairs wanting or ± sessile (stalked gland-tipped hairs occasional, much smaller than acute hairs). Flowers many in a dense (sometimes ± lax) terminal thyrse c. 30-140(-300)mm long, panicled in well-branched plants, cymules dichasial, many-flowered, crowded. Bracts (lowermost) c. 3-20 x 0.5-7 mm, either ± lanceolate, or the larger ones somewhat leaflike, or the lowermost few cymules in the axils of the uppermost leaves. Peduncles (of lowermost cymules) 2-5(-8) mm long, pedicels very short or flowers sessile. Calyx very obscurely bilabiate, tube 0.25-0.6 mm long, lobes 1.75-4.5 x 0.4-0.8 mm, subspathulate, the tips somewhat thickened, villous on backs and margins or hairs sometimes nearly or quite confined to margins, hairs to 0.6-0.75 mm long, acute, much smaller glandular hairs also present. Corolla tube 6.5-10 x 1-1.5 mm in throat, cylindric, inflated at apex, limb obscurely bilabiate, 5.5-8 mm across lateral lobes, posticous lobes 2.5-4 x 2-3.5 mm, anticous lobes 2-3.5 x 1.5-3 mm, all broadly elliptic to subrotund, margins often revolute, dull brownish-yellow to deep dull orange, or sometimes red-brown, pubescent outside, hairs up to 0.25-0.3 mm long, occasionally sparse in lower part, inside 4-5 strong longitudinal bands of clavate hairs in throat. Stamens 4, anticous anthers 0.4-0.5 mm long, just included, posticous anthers 0.8-1 mm long, included, posticous filaments bearded. Stigma 0.75-1.75 mm long, shorter than style, included. Style 1.5-2.6 mm long. Ovary 1-1.75 x 0.6-1 mm, conical. Capsules c. 3.5-7 x 2-3.5 mm. Seeds c. 0.5 x 0.3 mm, violet-blue.