Phylica villosa above the flowers

The upper part of this Phylica villosa inflorescence has already elongated in new leaf growth above the nearly white flowers. The solitary flowers are each subtended by a leaf, no different to the ones away from the flowers.

The stem, stalks, leaves and flowers, about everything in view is hairy. Villous means covered in small hairy processes as indicated by the Latin word villosa (hairy or shaggy).

The leaves are more spiralling up the stems than alternate. Needle-like but still tapering to its acutely pointed tip, the pale-stalked leaf is about lance-shaped. The dark upper leaf surface contrasts against the pale lower one, reduced in its visible part by the margins strongly rolled under. This makes the leaf almost cylindrical, about 1 mm wide and 20 mm long.

The buds in picture have woolly tops like brushes suited for delicate tasks. The open flowers have anthers in different colours, depending on the age of the flower (Coates Palgrave, 2002; Bond and Goldblatt, 1984; iNaturalist).