I.C. Hedge & A. Paton

Herba perennis, prostrata, suffruticosa. Caudex crassus vel tenuis, repens. Caules 5-15 cm, prostrato-procumbentes, tereto-quadrangulares, foliata, multiramosi, pills antrorsis crispatis eglandulosis vel pills patentibus glandulosis et eglandulosis provisi; in region inflorescentiae pills longioribus glandulosis praediti. Folia consistentia crassiuscula, anguste ovata, 3-12 x 1-5 mm, crenata, interdum revoluta, cuneata, acuta, pills numerosis longis adpressis glandulisque sessilibus, praesertim in paginis inferioribus, obsita. Petiolus 2-5 mm. Inflorescentia tetragona, condensata. Bracteae ellipticae vel late ellipticae, 5-7 x 3-4 mm, integrae, cuneatae, acutae, imbricatae, cucullatae, membranaceae, glanduloso-ciliatae, vel eglanduloso-ciliatae. Pedicelli 2.5-5 mm, erecti, complanati. Calyx florifer 1.5-2 mm, fructifer 3 mm longus; scutellum pills longis glandulosis provisus; scutella in statu fructifera 3 mm alta. Corolla 19-26 mm longa, panicle violacea vel flava, galea atroviolacea, erecta vel patulo-erecta, pills brevibus albis eglandulosis et glandulosis praedita; tubus 16-19 min longus. Nuculae ignotae.

Holotypus: Pakistan, Baluchistan: Sibi, Ziarat, 2440 m, July 1886, J. H. Lace 4036 (El).

Suffruticose prostrate herb with a thick or rather slender creeping woody rhizome. Stems prostrate-procumbent, round-quadrangular, much branched, leafy, with a dense variable indumentum of either crisped antrorse eglandular hairs or mostly spreading glandular and eglandular hairs; in the region of the inflorescence axis hairs longer and more glandular. Leaves thickish in texture, narrow ovate, 3-12 x 1-5 mm, crenate, sometimes revolute, cuneate, acute; indumentum dense, of long adpressed eglandular hairs and sessile glands, more numerous abaxially. Petiole c. 2-5 mm. Inflorescence 4-sided, condensed, lateral or terminal; flowers subtended by elliptic to broad elliptic, 5-7 x 3-4 mm, entire bracts which are imbricate, acute, green or purplish, cuculate, thin-textured, glandular-ciliate or eglandular pilose. Pedicels 2.5-5 mm, erect, flattened. Calyx 1.5-2 mm, with a small usually purplish scutellum, enlarging in fruit to 3 mm with a 3 mm high scutellum; indumentum similar to that of inflorescence axis but hairs sometimes shorter. Corolla 19-26 mm, light violet to yellowish blue with a darker coloured hood, erect or spreading-erect, externally with short white eglandular hairs, some glandular hairs and sessile glands; tube 16-19 mm. Mature nutlets not known.

Fl. Per.: May-June.

Holotype: Pakistan, Baluchistan: Sibi: Ziarat, 2440 m, July 1886, Lace 4036 (E!).

Distribution: Pakistan (endemic: Quetta, Sibi, Waziristan).

Some of the specimens listed above had previously been determined as Scutellaria prostrate Jacq. var., Scutellaria aff. Edelbergii Rech. fil. and, in Flora Iranica, as Scutellaria edelbergii subsp. squarosissima Rech. fil. However, on account of its prostrate habit, the small narrow leaves and the condensed inflorescences, it apparently merits independent specific status. Its closest ally appears to be Scutellaria proshata, also - further north - in our area, but the leaf characters easily separate it. Although the material of our new species is less than ideal, the flowers appear to have the dark coloured hoods of Scutellaria prostrate and not the dark coloured lips of the Scutellaria edelbergii/multicaulis taxa; but this is probably not an important differentiating feature.

The specific epithet commemorates J. H. Lace (1858-1918) who made major collections in Baluchistan, c. 1885-89, while serving with the then Indian Forestry Department; the top set of his collections is housed in Edinburgh.