Selago paniculata Thunb.

Perennial herb but will flower when very young and then looks annual, stems c. 150-450 mm long, several from apex of woody taproot, crown up to c. 10 mm in diam., stems prostrate to suberect, often but not always floriferous almost from base, mostly simple or subsimple but loosely branched in old vigorous plants, puberulous, hairs up to 0.1-0.15 mm long, recurved, young parts leafy. Leaves opposite, soon alternate upwards, fascicled, largest primary leaves (excluding seedling leaves) 3-8 x 1.2-2.1 mm (seedling leaves c. 13-15 x 4-5 mm, oblanceolate, subacute), oblong or linear-oblong, apex obtuse to subacute, base slightly narrowed, margins entire, slightly thickened, texture moderately thick, midrib weakly raised on lower surface, invisible on upper, glandular-punctate, stout but very small (mostly less. man 0.1 mm) hairs on margins, sometimes wanting: axillary leaves similar but smaller. Inflorescence composed of innumerable small racemes c. 5 x 4 mm in first flower, elongating to c. 10-15 mm in fruit (or sometimes longer when flowers all female), flowers becoming ± distant, peduncles short (c. 5-10 mm), nude or sparsely leafy, arranged in very long narrow panicles, these eventually branching, the branches either simple or the lowermost branching again. Bract adnate to pedicel and calyx tube, lowermost 1.8-3 x 0.7-1.2 mm, spathulate or oblong-elliptic, obtuse or nearly so, rather thick-textured, without white membranous margins or exceedingly narrow ones on uppermost bracts, glandular-punctate, coarse hairs to 0.1 mm long on margins, often on back as well particularly lower part and there with minute globular glands. Pedicels c. 0.1-0.25 mm long. Calyx 1-1.4 mm long, very obliquely 3-lobedf anticolateral lobes 0.8-1.2 x 0.7-0.8 mm, hairs to 0.1-0.2 mm long on margins, outside rather coarse hairs to 0.15 mm long together with globular glands and sometimes very minute glandular hairs as well. Corolla tube 1.2-2 mm long (all parts smaller when flowers female), funnel-shaped, limb 2-3.2 mm across lateral lobes, posticous lip 0.7-1 x 1-1.7 mm, entire or notched, anticous lobe 1-1.6 x 0.7-1.2 mm, all lobes oblong-elliptic, white. Stamens: posticous filaments 1-1.5 mm long, anticous filaments 1.2-2 mm, all anthers well exserted (except in female flowers). Stigma and style c. 1.5-2.4 mm long. Ovary c. 0.6 x 0.5 mm. Cocci 1.2 x 0.7-0.8 mm, red-brown, smooth, the pair ovoid in outline. Possibly flowers can be found at any season when moisture is available.