Barleria prionitoides - Pale Spiny Barleria

Pale Spiny Barleria is a spiny perennial herb or shrub, 1-4 ft tall, much branched; stems 4-angular at least when young, woody portions nearly round. Mature stems becoming hairless and with prominent white flaking skin. Axillary spines are pale brown or turning whitish, 4-rayed, stalk 0.5-1.5 mm long, longest rays 3.5-24 mm long, straight. Leaves are stalkless or leaf-stalk up to 13 mm long; blade papery to somewhat leathery, elliptic, oblong-elliptic or lanceshaped, 2.2-9 x 0.7-3 cm, Flowers are yellow, orange or rarely white, 2.6-5 cm long, tube shortly retrorse-velvet-hairy, limb hairless or finely velvet-hairy externally; tube cylindrical, 8-15 mm long; limb in marked 4+1 configuration; lower lobe offset from the remaining lobes by 7-13.5 mm, narrowly oblong-elliptic or oblong-lanceshaped, 8.5-16 x 3.2-6.2 mm, tip rounded to somewhat pointed; lateral lobes elliptic or somewhat obovate, 11-24.5 x 7-12 mm, tips pointed, blunt or shortly narrowed; upper lobes as laterals but 5.5-9.5 mm wide, tips sometimes more rounded. Calyx is brown or grey-green, turning paler in fruit or before; anterior lobe ovate or lanceshaped, 5-13.5 x 2-4 mm. Pale Spiny Barleria is found in South India and Sri Lanka.