C. catingae Harms in Engler, Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 42: 202. 1908. — "Bahia: Catinga bei Remanso (ULE n. 7573 — Jan. 1907)." — Holotypus, †B = F Neg. 12341; isotypus, HBG! = K Neg. 18753. — Equated with C. squarrosa by Renvoize, 1981: 73.

C. squarrosa sensu Bentham, 1875: 549; 1876: 418, quoad typum, planta Martiusiana exclusa; Renvoize, 1981: 73, fig. 2; Lewis, 1987: 176.

Microphyll shrubs 3-20 dm with virgate long- shoots and crowded acaulous brachyblasts, the older stems terete glabrate, the new branches, lf-axes, and peduncles thinly pilosulous with fine silky hairs to ±0.4—0.6 mm, the lvs subconcolorous but the small plane imbricate lfts a little darker and more lustrous above, facially glabrous but microscopically scabrous- ciliolate, the capitula solitary in axils of first 1-2 lvs of brachyblasts subtended by a coeval lf; phyllotaxy distichous. Stipules erect, narrowly lance-attenuate, those of primary lvs 2-5.5 mm, 5-7-nerved, those of secondary lvs scarcely shorter, all in age papery, pallid, persistent. Lf-formula i-iii/24—34, the pinnae of most lvs or of some brachyblast-lvs only 1 pair; lf-stk of primary lvs 1-6 mm, the petiole (disregarding lf- spur) ±1-1.5 mm, the one or the longer interpinnal segments at most 2 mm, the ventral groove bridged; rachis of longer pinnae 14-20 mm, the longer interfoliolar segments 0.3-0.6 mm; lft-pulvinules 0.10.15 mm; lfts gradually decrescent toward each end of rachis, the straight blades linear from auriculate base, obtuse, marginally thickened dorsally, the larger ones 3.5-5 x 0.6-0.9 mm, 5.5-7 times as long as wide; midrib subcentric simple, prominulous only dorsally, a very short obscure posterior nerve sometimes barely perceptible. Peduncles very slender 0.82 cm, usually 1-bracteate distally, the bract like those of individual fls, narrowly ovate, at most 1.5 mm, and like them persistent; capitula (4—)6-10-fld, the fls heteromorphic, the perianth glabrous, striately nerved; PERIPHERAL FLS: pedicel 0.3-0.5 x 0.6 mm; calyx 5-merous, turbinate-campanulate 2-3.8 mm, the triangular acute teeth 0.35-1.5 mm; corolla 4-merous 5.5-8 mm, the broadly ovate lobes 1.5-2 mm, each 7- nerved; androecium ±17-merous, nearly 4 cm, the stemonozone 1 mm, the tube exserted 1-2 mm from corolla and dilated at orifice, the tassel red distally; ovary not seen; CENTRAL FL (sometimes lacking): calyx scarcely longer but broader than that of peripheral fls; corolla 8.5-9.5 mm; tube of androecium 16-20 mm, trumpet-shaped distally. Pods (two seen) in profile 5-7 x ±0.9 cm, densely gray-pilosulous overall, the sutural ribs ±4 mm wide in dorsal view, the recessed valves transversely venulose; seeds not seen.

In unreported habitats, but to be expected in caatinga at moderate elevations, known precisely only from the lower Rio S. Francisco in n. Bahia (Remanso., Cachoeira Paulo Afonso, near 9°20'-30'S, 38°-42°W), to be sought in adj. Piauí and Pernambuco. — Fl. I-III.

This is a poorly known species, perhaps related to C. brevipes. The androecium of all flowers in the- capitulum is dilated distally, but the tube of central flowers is further exserted, about twice the length of the corolla.

The foregoing description does not include C. squarrosa var. crassifolia Benth., referred herein to C. nebulosa.