Vexatorella alpina (salisb. ex Knight) Rourke

A large, erect, spreading shrub 2-3 m in height, up to 4 m in diam. with a stout main trunk dividing near ground level into several main branches, up to 150 mm in diam. Bark smooth, grey. Flowering branches terete 3-4 mm in diam., initially covered with a fine crisped puberulous indumentum, soon glabrous. Leaves obovate to elliptic-spathulate, 30-45 mm long, 5-13 mm wide, ascending, entire, glabrous, glaucous; petioles up to 8 mm long, apex obtuse with a reddish-amber callus. Inflorescence either a terminal pedunculate panicle of up to 6 globose pedunculate capitula, the capitula opening in centripetal succession; or, more usually reduced to a single terminal pedunculate capitulum; peduncles 5-15 mm long, densely puberulous with one or two sterile linear bracts near base of main axis. Capitula 20-25 mm in diam. containing 15 to 30 flowers, lacking a surrounding involucre of sterile bracts. Receptacle ovoid to spherical 5-7 mm in diam. Floral bracts narrowly ovate to broadly lanceolate, acute, 5-6 mm long, 2-3 mm wide at anthesis enlarging up to three times these dimensions and becoming woody in the fruiting stage. Perianth straight, 12-18 mm long, the four perianth segments separating equally at anthesis; outer surface puberulous with a dense crisped indumentum; tube 7-8 mm long, quadrangular, puberulous distally, glabrous proximally; claws bowed outwards above tube prior to opening; limbs narrowly elliptic to linear, cymbiform, scarcely differentiated from claws, 2-3 mm long, outer surface sparsely villous. Style straight, 12-18 mm long, terete, dark carmine, usually glabrous but occasionally very sparsely puberulous proximally. Pollen presenter clavate, 1.5 mm long, stigmatic groove terminal. Ovary oblong-obovoid, 2 mm long, clearly differentiated from style, puberulous, unilocular, with a single pendulous ovule. Hypogynous scales linear-subulate, 1.5 mm long. Fruit an ovoid to obovoid, minutely puberulous achene, 6-8 mm long, 2.5-3 mm wide, prominently beaked apically, truncate and minutely pedicellate at base with an adaxial suture. Flowering takes place between September and December.