Metalasia trivialis P.O.Karis

Erect shrub, sometimes rigid, much-branched, up to 3 m high. Branches mostly erect, young densely whitish-tomentose, older becoming glabrous or subglabrous, with usually indistinct leaf-scars. Foliage dense or sometimes sparse. Leaves spreading to erect-spreading, straight, with conspicuous axillary brachyblasts usually at least half as long as the subtending leaf, involute to highly involute, linear-oblanceolate to narrowly obovate, 3.4-16 x 0.5-1.5 mm, acute, carinate, sometimes sharply pungent, mostly about half-twisted, glabrous or subglabrous, with a distinct midvein. Synflorescenses 10-50(-85) mm wide, dense, conspicuously branched, with often numerous capitula arranged in few to 20 distictly branched clusters, each containing few to 30 (numerous) capitula; some individually arranged capitula sometimes also present. Peduncles (0-)2-30 mm long. Capitula 3-1-flowered, sessile or with pedicels up to 4 mm long, free from one another, lower 3/5-2/3 of each capitulum hairy. Involucre narrowly cyathiform to narrowly campanulate, or sometimes oblong-urceolate, apically 1.5-2.5 mm wide, becoming up to 3.5(-4) mm wide at anthesis. Involucral bracts in 5-6(-7) series, gradually longer inwards, outermost about 1/2-3/4 as long as the innermost, most bracts not petaloid, outermost subfoliaceous to scarious, those inwards more scarious to petaloid, outermost subulate-lanceolate to lanceolate, those inwards narrowly ovate to narrowly oblanceolate, inner and innermost sometimes with narrow hyaline margins and usually distinctly transparent above the stereome, outermost acute to acuminate, those inwards acute or sometimes obtuse and rounded, all apically erect but innermost erect-spreading at anthesis, inner and innermost usually carinate and sometimes plicate and slightly apiculate, outermost with interlocking hairs reaching to about the middle of the bract, those inwards less hairy to glabrous, outermost light brown to brown or reddish, those inwards white, innermost with a stereome about 1.1-1.9 times as long as the lamina. Corolla narrowly cylindrical, 2.8-3.6 mm long, sometimes with a rigid resiniferous base; lobes erect. Anthers apically rounded or sometimes subtruncate. Cypselas narrowly oblong-ovoid to narrowly oblong, 1.5-1.8 mm long, without an annular ridge, mostly with short acute papillae, brown.