Prostanthera florifera explained

Prostanthera florifera, commonly known as Gawler Ranges mintbush,[1] is a species of flowering plant in the family Lamiaceae and is endemic to the Eyre Peninsula in South Australia. It is a small shrub with densely hairy branches, thick, linear to narrow oblong leaves, and pinkish-red flowers that are pale pink with pinkish-red blotches inside the petal tube.

Description

Prostanthera florifera is a more or less densely-branched shrub that typically grows to a height of high with densely hairy branches. The leaves are thick, linear to narrow oblong long and wide and sessile. The flowers are arranged near the ends of branchlets, each flower on a pedicel long. The sepals are long and form a tube long with two lobes long. The petals are pinkish-red, long and form a tube long that is pink with white and pinkish-red blotches inside and brownish blotches on the lobes. The lower lip of the petal tube has three lobes, the centre lobe spatula-shaped, about long and wide and the side lobes long and wide. The upper lip is egg-shaped, long and wide. Flowering occurs from August to October.[2] [3]

Taxonomy

Prostanthera florifera was first formally described in 1984 by Barry Conn in the Journal of the Adelaide Botanic Gardens from specimens collected on Miccollo Hill in the Gawler Ranges in the northern Eyre Peninsula in 1979.[4]

Distribution and habitat

Gawler Ranges mintbush grows amongst in rocky places with scattered shrubs in the Eyre Peninsula of South Australia.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Prostanthera florifera (Labiatae) Gawler Ranges Mintbush . Seed Conservation Service of South Australia . 31 August 2020.
  2. Conn . Barry J. . A taxonomic revision of Prostanthera Labill. Section Klanderia (F.v.Muell.) Benth. (Labiatae). . Journal of the Adelaide Botanic Gardens . 1984 . 6 . 3 . 310–313 . 31 August 2020.
  3. Web site: Prostanthera florifera . State Herbarium of South Australia . 31 August 2020.
  4. Web site: Prostanthera florifera. APNI. 31 August 2020.