Sarcozona praecox

Prostrate or shrubby perennial to c. 0.5 m high, 1 m diam. Leaves 4–10 cm long, 4–7 mm diam, glaucous, warty, the adaxial face flat, outer surfaces flat to convex, the dorsal angle usually raised and roughened; bracts of involucre 12–20 mm long, fused in the lower two-thirds, internally appressed to but remaining free from ovary. Sepals 4 (rarely 5), the longer 3–5 mm long, acute, keeled and fleshy throughout, the shorter obtuse and with broad membranous margins; petaloid staminodes mostly c. 2 cm long; styles and locules of ovary 4 (rarely 5). Fruit globoid, c. 1 cm diam.; seeds ovate, acute, c. 1 cm long, smooth. Flowers Aug.–Nov.