Pimelea mesoa C.J.Burrows

A small much-branched, usually suberect, or decumbent, sometimes appressed, compact shrub, with short branches radiating from a stout main stem, to 10 cm tall and 20 cm wide, or with fewer, looser, trailing, procumbent to decumbent stems, up to 30 cm long. Branching mainly sympodial. Young stems light to dark brown, moderately to densely covered with moderately long grey-white or yellowish hairs, internodes 0.5–5 mm long. Older stems stout, dark brown to black, glabrate to glabrous. Node buttresses lunate to elongate, brown, sometimes prominent on leafless stems. Leaves decussate, ascending and crowded, or more distant, becoming patent, on short (0.3–0.5 mm) reddish petioles. Lamina dull glaucous–green, elliptic, broad–elliptic or oblong, sometimes ovate, 4.5–7 × 1.8–2.5 mm, slightly adaxially concave, mid-vein obscure; tip obtuse; base cuneate; abaxial surface moderately densely covered with long, straight or curled hairs; stomata on both adaxial and abaxial leaf surfaces. Inflorescences terminal, 4–12-flowered; involucral bracts 4, wider than ordinary leaves (6–8 × 3–4 mm). Receptacles densely hairy. Plants gynodioecious. Flowers white, scented, on short (0.2 mm) pedicels, very hairy outside, inside hairless. ♀ tube 3–4 mm long, ovary portion 2 mm, calyx lobes 2 × 1 mm; ♀ tube 5–6 mm long, ovary portion 1.5 mm, calyx lobes 3 × 1.5 mm. Anther dehiscence introrse. Ovary with sparse short hairs on apex. Flowering spring-summer. Fruits ovoid, fleshy, yellow to orange 4–5 × 2–3.2 mm. Seeds 2.5 × 1.3 mm.

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