Metalasia tenuifolia Dc.

Sprawling, slender shrublet, often straggling, much-branched, up to 0.2 m high, but usually about 0.1 m. Branches ascending to erect, young sparsely whitish-tomentose, older becoming glabrous, with or without scarcely visible leaf-scars. Foliage sparse or sometimes dense. Leaves spreading to erect-spreading, straight or sometimes slightly curved, usually without axillary brachyblasts less than half as long as the subtending leaf, much to highly involute, linear to oblanceolate, 2.5-14 x 0.4-1.0 mm, acute, about half-twisted, glabrous to very sparsely pubescent, sometimes densely but deciduously greyish-tomentose, with an indistinct midvein towards the base. Synflorescenses 5-10(-13) mm wide, dense and obscurely branched, with (1-)few to 10(-17) capitula arranged in one to few obscurely branched clusters, each containing few capitula; a few individually arranged capitula sometimes also present. Peduncles 0-2 mm long. Capitula 3-flowered, sessile, free from one another or slightly fused by hairs, lower half of each capitulum hairy, sometimes densely greyish-tomentose. Involucre cyathiform to narrowly campanulate, apically 1-2 mm wide, up to 3.5 mm wide at an thesis. Involucral bracts in 4-5 series, gradually longer inwards, outermost about 1/2-2/3 as long as the innermost, outermost foliaceous to subfoliaceous, those inwards scarious or mostly petaloid, outermost subulate-lanceolate to lanceolate, those inwards narrowly ovate to narrowly elliptic or narrowly oblanceolate, all except outermost with narrow hyaline margins, outermost acute, those inwards slightly apiculate, innermost rounded and obtuse, all apically erect but innermost erect-spreading at anthesis, outermost with interlocking hairs reaching above the middle of the bract, those inwards less hairy to glabrous, outermost reddish, those inwards sometimes reddish above the stereome but otherwise whitish to creamy white, innermost with a stereome about 1.5-2.5 times as long as the lamina. Corolla narrowly cylindrical, 2.5-2.8 mm long; lobes erect-spreading to erect. Anthers apically rounded. Cypselas narrowly oblong, 2.0-2.5 mm long, with a distinct annular ridge, slightly and irregularly ridged, brown. Pappus bristles with a serrate and narrow shaft, apically subterete and almost entire to slightly serrate or slightly dentate, obtuse or sometimes acute.