Pimelea nitens C.J.Burrows & Courtney

A robust, much-branched, procumbent, decumbent or sometimes semi-upright shrub, to 25 cm high; stems usually stiff, up to 40 cm long. Branching mainly sympodial. Young stems brown, densely covered in short, white to greyish or yellowish, fine to coarse, appressed to ascending hairs. Internodes 1–2 mm. Older stems thick (to 12 mm), glabrate, dark grey–brown to black. Node buttresses lunate, 0.2 mm long, smooth, brown, usually not very prominent on leafless stems. Leaves decussate, ascending, loosely imbricate, on short (0.5 mm), red petioles. Lamina medium to dark green, elliptic to broad–elliptic or ovate to broad–ovate, 5–8 × 2–3 mm, slightly keeled; tip sharply acute to blunt; base cuneate; abaxial surface densely to moderately densely covered by straight, appressed to ascending, glistening white or dull-white, sometimes yellowish, straight or curled hairs; stomata on both adaxial and abaxial surfaces. Inflorescences terminal, 3–7-flowered. Involucral bracts wider than adjacent leaves (5–6 × 3.5–3.9 mm). Receptacles with dense short hairs. Plants gynodioecious. Flowers white, on short (0.3 mm) pedicels, densely covered outside with short hairs; inside hairless. ♀ tube to 3.5 mm long, ovary portion 2 mm, calyx lobes 1.5 × 1 mm; ♀ tube to 6 mm long, ovary portion 2 mm, calyx lobes 2 × 1.5 mm. Anther dehiscence introrse. Ovary with a cluster of long hairs at summit and sparse, short hairs to base. Fruits ovoid, fleshy, red, 5 × 3.5 mm. Seeds 2.5 × 1.8 mm. Flowering summer.

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