Melanospermum italae Hilliard

Annual herb, stems c. 40-200 mm long, 1-2 mm diam. at base, simple to well branched from the base and above, erect or the outer branches sometimes decumbent and rooting, leafy with axillary leaf tufts often well developed, pubescent throughout with patent or somewhat retrorse eglandular hairs up to 0.1-0.5 mm long, the apical cell sometimes much bigger than the stalk cells and balloon-like, sometimes very minutely glandular-puberulous as well near the tips of the stems. Leaves opposite, sometimes alternate towards the tips of the stems, blade of main stem leaves (and radical leaves when present) c. 5-13 x 1.5-8 mm, broadly to narrowly elliptic tapering to a flat petiole-like base 1-12 mm long, up to half the length of the blade or occasionally almost equalling it, margins in upper half of leaf with 2-3 pairs of teeth or entire in small leaves, glandular-punctate, nearly glabrous except for eglandular hairs on lower margins, upper surface in lower half of leaf, and sometimes on the midline below, hairs up to 0.4-0.8 mm long, obtuse, apical cell sometimes inflated. Flowers many in crowded head-like racemes soon elongating and sometimes very lax in the lower part. Bracts at base of racemes c. 5.5-8 x 14 mm, lanceolate to elliptic-lanceolate, upper margins sometimes with 1 or 2 teeth, adnate to pedicel and base of calyx, hairy mainly on margins and upper surface near base, hairs mostly 0.3-0.6 mm long, apical cell sometimes inflated. Pedicels 0-1 mm long. Calyx bilabiate, tube 1.5-2 mm long, anticous lobes 2-2.5 x 1 mm, anticous lip split c. 1 mm, posticous lobes narrower and more deeply divided, whole calyx pubescent outside or hairs more or less confined to keels and margins, c. 0.3 mm long, obtuse, apical cell often more or less inflated. Corolla tube 5-5.2 x 1.2-1.5 mm, broadening a little in the throat, limb 4.5-6 mm across the lateral lobes, posticous lobes 1.2-1.6 x 0.75-1.5 mm, anticous lobe 1.6-2.5 x 1-1.5 mm, whole corolla sparsely puberulous outside particularly on back of posticous lip, orange patch at base of posticous lip inside and bearded there, the hairs running down back of tube, corolla lobes either white or white flushed mauve or wholly mauve. Stamens 4, anthers 0.6-0.75 mm long, dark-coloured, all well exserted. Stigma well exserted. Capsules c. 3-3.5 x 2.5 mm, many-seeded. Seeds c. 0.5-0.75 mm long.