Metalasia erectifolia Pillans

Much branched erect shrublet, up to 0.5 m high. Branches erect, young densely whitish-tomentose, older becoming glabrous or subglabrous, with indistinct leaf-scars. Foliage dense. Leaves appressed or sometimes erect, imbricate, straight to very slightly curved inwards, rarely with axillary brachyblasts much less than half as long as the subtending leaf, involute, flat to slightly concave above, linear to ovate-elliptic, 2.8-11 x 0.4-1.4 mm, acute, sometimes slightly carinate, non-twisted, glabrous to sparsely pubescent towards the base, with a distinct midvein at least towards the base. Synflorescenses 5-15(-20) mm wide, very dense, broadly campanulate to spherical, slighty branched to seemingly unbranched, with 25 to numerous capitula arranged in 5-20 obscurely branched to seemingly unbranched clusters, each containing few to 10 capitula, Peduncles 0.5-3 mm long. Capitula 3-flowered, sessile or with pedicels up to 2 mm long, free from one another, hairy just at the base. Involucre narrowly obconic to narrowly campanulate, apically 1-1.5 mm wide, sometimes up to 2 mm wide at anthesis. Involucral bracts in 5-6 series, gradually longer inwards, most bracts not petaloid, outermost about 3/5-3/4 as long as the innermost, outermost scarious, those inwards scarious to petaloid, outermost subulate-lanceolate to narrowly lanceolate, those inwards lanceolate to narrowly elliptic to oblanceolate, inner and innermost usually with narrow to broad hyaline margins and mostly transparent above the stereome, outermost very acute to acute, outer to inner more obtuse, innermost truncate and irregularly dentate, all apically erect, inner and innermost apically plicate and with slightly involute margins, outermost with comparatively few interlocking hairs not reaching above the middle of the bract, those inwards less hairy to glabrous, outermost light to dark brown, those inwards brown to white, innermost with a stereome about 1.3-3 times as long as the lamina. Corolla narrowly cylindrical, 2.7-3.4 mm long; lobes erect. Anthers apically rounded. Cypselas narrowly oblong-elliptic to ovoid, 1-1.3 mm long, without an annular ridge, with obtuse papillae, dark to blackish-brown. Pappus bristles with a serrate or sometimes dentate and very narrow sometimes narrow shaft, apically ± flat and often serrate or sometimes almost entire, thickened sometimes subterete towards the very apex, usually acute.