Pimelea dura C.J.Burrows

A small, much-branched, appressed shrub up to 5 cm high and 10–20 cm across. Short branches radiate from a stout main stem with short sympodial and lateral branchlets, forming small, discrete, open cushions. Young stems brown, sparsely to moderately densely covered in short, grey–white hairs; internodes 0.3–1 mm long. Older stems grey–brown, sometimes buried in wind-blown silt or sand. Node buttresses smooth, brown, lunate to elongate, sometimes prominent on leafless stems. Leaves decussate, ascending, loosely imbricate, sessile or on very short (0.1 mm) red petioles. Lamina pale glaucous–green, elliptic to ovate, or oblong, 3–4 × 0.8–1.2 mm, slightly keeled and adaxially concave; tip obtuse; base cuneate; adaxial surface glabrous (rarely with a few hairs), abaxial surface moderately densely covered with short hairs; stomata on both adaxial and abaxial leaf surfaces. Inflorescences terminal on branchlets, 2–6-flowered; involucral bracts 4, similar in size to adjacent leaves or larger (4 × 1.6 mm) partly hiding the flowers. Receptacles sparsely to moderately hairy. Plants gynodioecious. Flowers white or sometimes faintly pink-tinted, on very short (0.1 mm) pedicels, with a sparse cover of short hair outside, inside hairless. ♀ tube 1.5–2 mm long, ovary portion 1.5 mm, calyx lobes 0.9 × 0.9 mm; ♀ tube 3–4 mm long, ovary portion 1.3 mm, calyx lobes 1.1 × 1.1 mm. Anther dehiscence introrse. Ovary with a cluster of short hairs at summit. Fruits ovoid, opaque, pink or pale orange 4.5 × 3.1 mm. Seeds 2.2 × 1.2 mm. Flowering late spring–early summer.

[Reproduced from Burrows (2011, New Zealand J. Bot. 49: 41–106) with permission from The Royal Society of New Zealand.]