Metalasia tricolor Pillans

Erect much-branched shrublet, probably 0.5-1 m high. Branches erect, young densely whitish-tomentose, older becoming glabrous or subglabrous, with distinct leaf-scars. Foliage dense. Leaves spreading to erect-spreading, straight, with axillary brachyblasts less than half as long as the subtending leaf, involute, narrowly lanceolate, 3.3-7.0 x 0.7-1.0 mm, acute, carinate, non-twisted or slightly twisted, glabrous or subglabrous. Synflorescenses 15-25 mm wide, dense, with 10-30 capitula arranged in 7-10 branched clusters, eacji containing few to 5 capitula; some individually arranged capitula sometimes also present. Peduncles 2-6 mm long. Capitula 6-8-flowered, sessile or with pedicels up to 3 mm long, free from one another, lower 3/5-4/5 of each capitulum hairy. Involucre cyathiform to narrowly campanulate, apically 2-3 mm wide, sometimes up to 4 mm wide at anthesis. Involucral bracts in 9-12 series, gradually longer inwards, outermost about 1/3-1/2 as long as the innermost, most bracts not petaloid, outermost sub-foliaceous to scarious, those inwards more scarious to petaloid, outermost narrowly ovate to narrowly lanceolate, those inwards narrowly ovate to narrowly oblanceolate, all without hyaline margins, inner and innermost sometimes transparent above the stereome, outermost acute to acuminate, those inwards acute but innermost acute to obtuse and sometimes apiculate, inner erect-spreading to erect apically but other bracts erect, inner and innermost distinctly plicate, outer and inner carinate, outermost with interlocking hairs reaching above the middle of the bract, those inwards less hairy to glabrous, outermost brownish to reddish, those inwards brownish with reddish tips to light pink or usually white, innermost with a stereome about 1.1-1.7 times as long as the lamina. Corolla narrowly cylindrical, about 3.8 mm long, sometimes with a conspicuous, rigid resiniferous base; lobes erect. Anthers apically rounded. Cypselas (very immature) narrowly obovate, with short acute papillae. Pappus bristles with a serrate and narrow shaft, apically flattened and inconspicuously serrate or dentate, subterete towards the very apex, obtuse to acute.