Native foxglove

Description

Dasymalla terminalis is an erect shrub which grows to a height of 0.5–1 m (2–3 ft) with its branches and leaves densely covered with white or grey, woolly hairs. The leaves are oblong to narrowly elliptic, 2–3.5 cm (0.8–1 in) long, 0.8–1.5 cm (0.3–0.6 in) wide, thick, soft and covered with small pimples which are hidden in the thick layer of woolly hairs. The flowers are pale to deep pinkish-purple or claret red and arranged in leaf axils in groups of up to five on a densely hairy stalk, 3–5 mm (0.1–0.2 in) long. (A form from near Lake Grace has white flowers.) The flowers are surrounded by woolly bracts and bracteoles which are hairy on the outside but glabrous on the inside. The five sepals are 1–1.5 cm (0.4–0.6 in) long and joined at their base to form a short tube which is woolly on the outside and glabrous on the inside. The five petals are joined to form a tube 15–20 mm (0.6–0.8 in) long, 8–10 mm (0.3–0.4 in) wide in the upper half, with five lobes on the end. The tube has scattered hairs outside but is glabrous inside except for a ring of hairs near the ovary. The lower petal lobe in more or less circular and almost twice as large as the other four lobes which are roughly equal in size. The four stamens are shorter than the tube with one pair slightly shorter than the other. Flowering occurs from may to November or December and the hairy fruit which follows splits into two when mature