Pimelea sericeovillosa subsp. alta

Detailed description

A low, much-branched, dull-green loose cushion-forming shrublet to 50 × 250 mm. with brown, clustered, appressed, leafy, densely villous young branchlets, and with older, gnarled, leafless stems often visible (these often leafless and glabrous, dark brown to black, often partly buried by windblown silt or sand). Internode length 0.3-0.6 mm. Branching mainly sympodial and radiating from a stout main stem up to 15 mm in diameter. Node buttresses lunate, dark brown, masked by hairs on young stems, not prominent on leafless branchlets. Leaves decussate, ascending, imbricate, sessile or with very short petioles (0.2 mm). Lamina medium to pale green, elliptic to oblong, 2.2-4.0 × 1.0-1.3 mm, adaxially concave, mid-vein not evident, abaxial surface very densely covered with straight, grey-white, moderately long hairs; adaxial surface sparsely hairy, sometimes glabrous, obtuse, base cuneate, stomata on both adaxial and abaxial surfaces. Inflorescences terminal, with 1 or 2, sometimes 3, flowers. Involucral bracts 4, the same size as, or slightly wider than adjacent leaves (2.3 × 1.5 mm). Receptacle usually with abundant long hairs. Plants gynodioecious. Flowers 1-2-3 per inflorescence, white, on very short (0.1 mm) pedicels, very hairy outside, inside hairless. Female tube 2.5 mm long, ovary portion 2 mm, calyx lobes 1.0-1.2 × 0.5 mm; hermaphrodite tube 3-4 mm long, ovary portion 2 mm, calyx lobes 1.5 × 0.8-1.0 mm. Anther dehiscence introrse. Ovary with dense short hairs on summit, less dense to half way down. Fruits not seen.