Manulea turrita Banks ex Benth.

Perennial herb but can flower quickly and then appears annual, stems c. 200 mm-1 m, solitary to several from the base, simple or virgately branched, branches woody at base and there up to c. 4 mm diam., villous with spreading whitish acute hairs up to 1-2 mm long, together with shorter, gland-tipped hairs, becoming sparser upwards, the inflorescence axes often glabrous or very nearly so, sometimes sparsely villous, more or less closely leafy throughout. Leaves opposite, bases connate, becoming alternate upwards and passing into bracts, blade c. 18-60 x 7-20 mm, smaller upwards, elliptic, apex acute, base narrowed to a short petiolar part c. 6-14 mm long (roughly 1/4-1/3 length of blade), margins doubly serrate, both surfaces villous, hairs acute, up to c. 1 mm long, shorter gland-tipped hairs as well. Flowers many in a long narrow lax terminal thyrse composed of few-flowered (up to c. 11) dichasial cymules. Bracts (lowermost) sometimes leaf-like, often linear-lanceolate, rapidly smaller upwards. Peduncles (of lowermost cymules) c. 3-12 mm long, pedicels very short or flowers sessile. Calyx obscurely bilabiate, tube 0.2-0.4 mm long, anticous lobes 1.5-2.3 x 0.4-0.6 mm, anticous lip split 1.1-2.3 mm, posticous lobes 1.5-2.2 x 0.4-0.6 mm, posticous lip split 1.2-2 mm, all lobes linear-lanceolate, tips subspathulate, somewhat thickened, hairy usually on margins only, sometimes also thinly so on backs, some hairs acute, 0.3-0.75 mm long, others gland-tipped and much smaller. Corolla tube 6.5-8.5 x 0.8-1.2 mm in throat, cylindric, inflated near apex, limb bilabiate, 6-7 mm across lateral lobes, posticous lobes 2.25-3.5 x 0.75-1.5 mm, anticous lobes 1.75-3.1 x 0.75-1.3 mm, all lobes oblong, tips sometimes retuse, margins revolute, dull brownish-yellow to brownish-orange, or occasionally reddish-brown, pubescent outside, hairs often confined to swollen part of tube and backs of lobes, hairs acute, 0.2-0.3 mm long, inside either glabrous or a few clavate hairs at back of throat, occasionally a few in anticous position. Stamens 4, anticous anthers 0.4 mm long, just included, posticous anthers 0.8 mm long, more deeply included, posticous filaments thinly bearded. Stigma 0.5-2 mm long, shorter than or about equalling style, included. Style 1-2.25 mm long. Ovary c. 1.5 x 0.6-0.8 mm, conical. Capsules c. 4-4.5 x 2-2.5 mm. Seeds c. 0.5 x 0.3 mm, white turning violet-blue.