C. blanchetii sensu Bentham, 1875: 544 ("Blancheti"); 1876: 414; Renvoize, 1981: 67, fig. 1(4); Lewis, 1987: 171.

C. umbellifera sensu Lewis, 1987: 177; non Bentham.

Subshrubs or shrubs of unknown height, with defoliate older stems and densely leafy annotinous branches, the young stems and ventral face of lf-axes pilosulous with fine weak whitish hairs <0.6 mm, the lvs strongly bicolored, the small firm, facially glabrous but microscopically ciliolate lfts brown-olivaceous above, paler dull beneath, the umbelliform capitula arising singly and geminate from efoliate brachyblasts axillary to several distal primary lvs, and beyond these forming a shortly exserted efoliate pseudoraceme, the fls glabrous except for microscopically silky-strigulose limb of corolla. Stipules of primary lvs erect, narrowly lanceolate 4.5-8 x 0.9-1.4 mm, striately ±9-nerved, becoming dry, deciduous, those of brachyblasts densely imbricate, similar in form but much shorter. Lf-formula i/21—28(—32); lf- tk of primary lvs, including the pulvinus but disregarding the prominent lf-spur, 1.5-5 mm, at middle 0.3-0.5 mm diam, that of brachyblast lvs mostly shorter and reflexed; pinna-rachis of primary lvs 17-30(-33) mm, the longer interfoliolar segments 0.6 1.3 mm; lfts a little decrescent at each end of rachis, otherwise equilong, the blades linear-lanceolate from bluntly auriculate base, deltately subacute, those near mid-rachis 3.5-5.5 x 1-1.2 mm, 3.5-5 times as long as wide; midrib simple, nearly straight, forwardly displaced to divide blade ±1:1.5-2, prominulous only on dorsal face of 1ft, a very short and faint posterior primary nerve sometimes perceptible. Peduncles stout, compressed, 1.2-2.5 cm, bracteate above middle, the lanceolate bract 1-1.5 mm, sometimes deciduous; capitula ±10-20-fld, the receptacle, including a sometimes well-defined terminal pedestal, 1.5-3 x 1.5-2 mm; floral bracts ephemeral or 0; peripheral pedicels 3-5.5 x 0.3-0.5 mm, the terminal one a little shorter; fl-buds broadly pyriform; perianth 4- or 5-merous, pallid, externally nerveless; PERIPHERAL FLS: calyx turbinate-campanulate 2-4.3 mm, glabrous, the deltate-obovate obtuse teeth unequal, the deepest sinus 0.5-2 mm; corolla 6.3-8 mm, the broadly ovate obtuse unequal lobes 2.2-3 mm; androecium 16-40-merous, 2.8-5 cm, the thickened, externally fuscous stemonozone 0.7-1.6 mm, the tube ±3.5 mm, the tassel pink; intrastaminal nectary 0; TERMINAL FL: scarcely known, sometimes early deciduous, a little wider than peripheral ones but scarcely longer, the androecium apparently little modified; ovary of peripheral fls subsessile, glabrous at anthesis. Pods (two seen) 6-6.5 x 0.75-0.8 cm, the sutural ribs in dorsal view scarcely 2 mm wide, the dark brown valves densely cross-venulose, micropuberulent; seeds unknown.

In stony ground, in habitats and at elevations not recorded, known only from interior Bahia, Brazil: at Jacobina, near 11°S, 40°30'W; confluence of rios Jacuipe and Paraguaçu, 12°32'S, 39°05'W. — Fl. VII-?.

Calliandra blanchetii is well characterized by the combination of geminate pinnae and umbelliform capitula arising from efoliate axillary brachyblasts. Calliandra umbellifera, similar in the umbellate flowers, has a second pair of pinnae in some or all leaves, and capitate-glandular perianth.