Prostanthera cruciflora
{{Short description|Species of flowering plant}}
{{Speciesbox
| name =
| image = Prostanthera cruciflora Mount Kaputar.jpg
| image_caption =
| status_system =
| status =
| genus = Prostanthera
| species = cruciflora
| authority = J.H.Willis{{cite web |title=Prostanthera cruciflora |url=https://biodiversity.org.au/nsl/services/apc-format/display/109578 |website=Australian Plant Census |access-date=28 August 2020}}
| range_map = Prostanthera crucifloraDistA23.png
| range_map_caption = Occurrence data from AVH
}}
File:Prostanthera cruciflora habit.jpg]]
Prostanthera cruciflora is a species of flowering plant that is endemic to New South Wales. It is an erect, strongly aromatic shrub with egg-shaped leaves and white flowers with yellow streaks arranged in groups on the ends of branchlets.
Description
Prostanthera cruciflora is an erect, strongly aromatic shrub that typically grows to a height of {{cvt|1.5–2|m}} with branchlets densely covered with glands. Its leaves are greyish green, egg-shaped, {{cvt|6–20|mm}} long and {{cvt|8–15|mm}} wide on a petiole {{cvt|3–10|mm}} long, and densely glandular. The flowers are arranged in groups of about eight, the sepals about {{cvt|8|mm}} long, forming a tube about {{cvt|3.5|mm}} long with two lobes, the upper lobe about {{cvt|2.5|mm}} long. The petals are {{cvt|6–9|mm}} long and white with yellow streaks on the lower lobe. Flowering occurs from August to December.{{cite web |last1=Conn |first1=Barry J. |title=Prostanthera cruciflora |url=https://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Prostanthera~cruciflora |publisher=Royal Botanic Garden Sydney |access-date=28 August 2020}}{{cite journal |last1=Willis |first1=James H. |title=Systematic Notes on the Indigenous Australian Flora |journal=Muelleria |date=1967 |volume=1 |issue=3 |pages=144–145 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/199349#page/32/mode/1up |access-date=28 August 2020}}
Taxonomy and naming
Prostanthera cruciflora was first formally described in 1967 by James Hamlyn Willis in the journal Muelleria.{{cite web |title=Prostanthera cruciflora |url=https://id.biodiversity.org.au/instance/apni/541051 |website=Australian Plant Name Index |access-date=28 August 2020}} The specific epithet (cruciflora) is "an allusion to the cross-shaped lower lip of the corolla".
Distribution and habitat
This mint bush grows in heath on exposed rock outcrops in the Mount Kaputar National Park and on nearby ranges.
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q15355010}}
Category:Flora of New South Wales
Category:Lamiales of Australia