Metalasia aurea D.Don

Erect much-branched shrub, up to 1.5 m high, rarely attaining 2 m. Branches erect, young densely whitish-tomentose, older becoming less tomentose to glabrous, with distinct leaf-scars. Foliage dense or sometimes sparse. Leaves declinate to spreading, or sometimes erect-spreading, straight, with axillary brachyblasts less than half as long as the subtending leaf, involute to much involute, or sometimes highly involute, linear-lanceolate to lanceolate or narrowly oblanceolate, 3.7-18 x 0.6-1.2 mm, acute, sometimes carinate, sometimes pungent, mostly about half-twisted, glabrous or subglabrous, with a distinct midvein. Synflorescenses 15-50 mm wide, dense, conspicuously branched, with usually numerous capitula arranged in 10-25 distinctly branched clusters, each containing few to 20 capitula; a few individually arranged capitula occasionally present. Peduncles 2-15 mm long. Capitula 3-5-flowered, sessile or with pedicels up to 4 mm long, free from one another, lower 2/3 of each capitulum hairy. Involucre cyathiform to narrowly campanulate, apically (1-)1.5-2 mm wide, sometimes up to 3 mm wide at anthesis. Involucral bracts in 6-9(-11) series, gradually longer inwards, outermost about 1/5-1/2 as long as the innermost, most bracts not petaloid, outermost subfoliaceous to scarious, those inwards scarious to petaloid, outermost subulate-lanceolate to narrowly ovate, those inwards lanceolate to narrowly oblanceolate, inner and innermost sometimes with narrow hyaline margins, outermost acute and sometimes shortly acuminate, those inwards less acute and apiculate or usually rounded to truncate, all mostly apically erect, innermost slightly concave, outermost with interlocking hairs reaching almost throughout the bract, those inwards less hairy to glabrous, outermost yellowish-brown, those inwards dull yellow, innermost with a stereome about 1.5-2.1 times as long as the lamina. Corolla narrowly cylindrical, apically slightly widened, 3.1-3.7 mm long, yellowish, sometimes with a rigid resiniferous base; lobes erect. Anthers apically rounded. Cypselas narrowly oblong or sometimes oblong-ovoid, 1.5-1.9 mm long, without an annular ridge, with short acute papillae. Pappus bristles with a very narrow to narrow and serrate shaft, apically ± flat and entire or sometimes slightly serrate, thickened towards the very apex, acute or rarely obtuse.