Metalasia rhoderiodes T.M.Salter

Sprawling, diffuse shrublet, sparingly to much-branched, up to 0.4 m high. Branches ascending to erect, young densely whitish-tomentose, towards the tips usually reddish-whitish-tomentose, also with coarse hairs, older branches becoming less tomentose to sub-glabrous, with indistinct leaf-scars. Foliage dense, but gradually much sparser towards the synflorescense. Leaves usually spreading to erect-spreading but erect towards the synflorescense, often variously curved, with axillary brachyblasts about half as long as the subtending leaf but gradually much smaller towards the synflorescense, involute to much involute, flat but broader leaves concave above, narrowly lanceolate to elliptic to ovate, 2.3-13 x 0.7-4.7 mm, acute to acuminate, non-twisted to twisted about once, densely covered with coarse hairs, sometimes becoming less hairy, greyish-green, sometimes dark reddish, especially towards the synflorescense, with an indistinct midvein. Synflorescenses 5-20 mm wide, very dense, campanulate to flattened, unbranched or seemingly unbranched, with 10 or usually numerous capitula arranged in 1-10 densely fused almost unbranched clusters, each containing 10 to numerous capitula, and with whitish and reddish hairs. Peduncles, if present, scarcely distinguishable, up to 10 mm long, reddish-whitish-tomentose. Capitula 3-4-flowered, sessile, completely fused by whitish and reddish hairs within clusters and synflorescenses, lower 2/3 of each capitulum hairy. Involucre cyathiform to narrowly campanulate, apically 1 mm wide, sometimes up to 1.5 mm wide at anthesis. Involucral bracts in 3-4 series, gradually longer inwards, outermost about 4/5 as long as the innermost, outermost subfoliaceous, those inwards petaloid, outermost linear to linear-lanceolate, those inwards lanceolate to narrowly oblanceolate, all except outermost with narrow to broad hyaline margins, inner and innermost often transparent above the stereome, all acute and apically erect, outermost densely tomentose with interlocking and sometimes also with coarse hairs reaching almost throughout the bract, those inwards less hairy with the interlocking hairs tufted, to glabrous, outermost with reddish tips, those inwards sometimes reddish above the stereome but otherwise white, innermost with a stereome about 1.2-1.8 times as long as the lamina. Corolla narrowly cylindrical, sometimes thickened towards the base, 2.8-3.1 mm long; lobes erect. Anthers apically rounded to truncate and then sometimes slightly notched. Cypselas narrowly oblong, 1.5-1.6 mm long, with an indistinct annular ridge, with long papillae at the base, dark brown. Pappus bristles with a serrate and narrow to broad shaft, apically flattened to flat and slightly serrate to almost entire, sub-terete or often thickened towards the very apex, acute.