Metalasia massonii S.Moore

Erect usually much-branched shrublet, up to 0.7 m high. Branches erect, young sparingly or sometimes densely whitish-tomentose, older becoming less tomentose to glabrous, with inconspicuous leaf-scars. Foliage usually dense. Leaves mostly declinate, straight, usually with axillary brachyblasts less than half as long as the subtending leaf, involute to much involute, linear-oblanceolate to narrowly obovate or sometimes subulate, 2.4-10 x 0.4-1.5 mm, acute, about half-twisted, rarely non-twisted, glabrous or sometimes sparsely pubescent, sometimes with a distinct midvein. Synflorescenses (5-)10-30 mm wide, dense, sometimes arranged into secondary synflorescenses, umbraculiform or sometimes spheroid, distinctly branched, with (few-)10 or often numerous capitula arranged in 5-40 slightly to distinctly branched clusters, each containing few to 15 capitula; a few individually arranged capitula also present. Peduncles 1-8 mm long. Capitula 5-flowered, sessile or with pedicels up to 3 mm long, free from one another, lower 3/5-3/4 of each capitulum hairy. Involucre cyathiform to narrowly campanulate, apically 2.5-5 mm wide, becoming up to 6(-7) mm wide at anthesis. Involucral bracts in (5-)6-9(-10) series, gradually longer inwards, outermost about 1/5-1/3(-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 narrowly oblong to oblanceolate, or sometimes lanceolate, inner and innermost with narrow hyaline margins and sometimes distinctly transparent above the stereome, all acute but innermost sometimes rounded and irregularly dentate, outermost apically erect, those inwards revolute to erect-spreading but innermost erect and with conspicuously involute margins, outermost with interlocking hairs reaching above the middle of the bract, those inwards less hairy to glabrous, outermost dark brown or sometimes reddish, those inwards light brown with darker tips to white to bright pink, innermost with a stereome about 0.8-1.4 times as long as the lamina. Corolla narrowly cylindrical, 3.3-4.4 mm long, with a conspicuous rigid resiniferous base, comparatively thick throughout; lobes long, narrowly triangular and erect-spreading to erect. Anthers apically rounded. Cypselas oblong-ovoid to narrowly oblong, 2.1-3.8 mm long, with two lateral and one medial pericarpous ribs, with a conspicuous annular ridge, with short acute papillae, pericarp soon caducous, dark brown. Pappus bristles with a distinctly serrate and narrow or sometimes broad shaft, apically flat or often flattened and obtusely serrate to entire, thickened or often subterete or clavate at the very apex, obtuse, sometimes with fused clavate cells.