Metalasia serrata P.O.Karis

Erect shrublet, moderately to much-branched, up to 0.6 m high. Branches erect, young densely whitish-tomentose, older becoming glabrous or nearly so, with ± distinct leaf-scars. Foliage dense. Leaves spreading, straight to slightly curved outwards, usually with axillary brachyblasts less than half as long as the subtending leaf, involute and sometimes concave above or much involute and flat above, oblanceolate to obovate, 2.0-11 x 0.6-2.6 mm, acute to obtuse, mostly half-twisted, glabrous or sometimes sparsely pubescent, at least towards the base, with a distinct midvein towards the base. Synflorescenses 8-35 mm wide, dense and distinctly branched, with (5-)15 to numerous capitula arranged in (0-)few to 15 obscurely branched clusters, each containing few to 10 capitula; a few individually arranged capitula sometimes also present. Peduncles 0-8 mm long. Capitula 3-flowered, sessile or with pedicels 1-2 mm long, fused by hairs within the clusters, lower 1/2-2/3 of each capitulum hairy. Involucre cyathiform to narrowly campanulate, slightly to distinctly widened above, apically 1.5-2.0 mm wide, sometimes up to 3.0 mm wide at anthesis. Involucral bracts in (3-)4-5 series, of subequal length, sometimes slightly longer inwards, outermost 2/3 to about as long as the innermost, outermost scarious, those inwards petaloid, outermost subulate-lanceolate to narrowly lanceolate, those inwards narrowly obovate to subspathulate or narrowly oblanceolate, all except outermost with narrow to broad hyaline margins, outermost acute, those inwards acute to obtuse and apiculate, all often erect-spreading to erect apically and slightly to deeply concave, inner and innermost carinate at the very apex, outermost with interlocking hairs reaching above the middle of the bract, those inwards less hairy to glabrous, outermost reddish to pink to whitish, those inwards reddish above the stereome but otherwise pink or sometimes white, innermost with a stereome about 3-4 times as long as the lamina. Corolla narrowly cylindrical, sometimes slightly widened above, 3.2-3.5 mm long; lobes erect. Anthers apically rounded to subtruncate. Cypselas narrowly oblong to narrowly elliptic-oblong, 2.6-2.8 mm long, without an annular ridge, indistinctly ridged, brown. Pappus bristles with a serrate and generally narrow shaft, apically flat and usually coarsely serrate, obtuse.