Prostanthera walteri
{{Short description|Species of flowering plant}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2019}}
{{Speciesbox
| name = Blotchy mint-bush
| image = Prostanthera walteri flowers.jpg
| image_caption =
| genus = Prostanthera
| species = walteri
| authority = F.Muell.{{cite web|title=Prostanthera walteri|url= https://biodiversity.org.au/nsl/services/apc-format/display/111555|publisher=Australian Plant Census|access-date=7 October 2020}}
| range_map = Prostanthera walteriDistA103.png
| range_map_caption = Occurrence data from AVH
}}
File:Prostanthera walteri habit.jpg
Prostanthera walteri, commonly known as blotchy mint-bush, is a species of flowering plant that is endemic to south-eastern Australia. It is a sprawling shrub with tangled, hairy branches, egg-shaped leaves and usually bluish green flowers with prominent purple veins arranged singly in leaf axils.
Description
Prostanthera walteri is a sprawling shrub that typically grows to a height of {{cvt|1–2|m}} and has hairy, glandular, often tangled, wiry branches. The leaves are egg-shaped, mostly {{cvt|18–26|mm}} long and {{cvt|5–15|mm}} wide on a petiole {{cvt|2–5|mm}} long. The lower surface of the leaves is hairy and the upper is grooved and more or less glabrous. The flowers are arranged singly in leaf axils on a hairy pedicel {{cvt|3–6|mm}} long with bracteoles {{cvt|4–6.5|mm}} long at the base of the sepals. The sepals are {{cvt|10–12|mm}} long, forming a tube {{cvt|4–5|mm}} long with two lobes {{cvt|3–6|mm}} long. The petals are {{cvt|18–26|mm}} long, forming a tube {{cvt|12–16|mm}} long and usually bluish green with prominent purple veins. The lower middle lobe of the tube is {{cvt|5–10|mm}} long and {{cvt|3–9.5|mm}} wide, the side lobes {{cvt|5–7|mm}} long and {{cvt|1–1.5|mm}} wide, the upper lobe is broadly egg-shaped, {{cvt|5–10|mm}} long and {{cvt|6–10|mm}} wide with a central notch about {{cvt|0.5|mm}} deep. Flowering occurs in summer.{{cite web |url=http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Prostanthera~walteri |title=Prostanthera walteri |access-date=4 January 2013 |author=|work= PlantNET - New South Wales Flora Online |publisher=Royal Botanic Gardens & Domain Trust, Sydney Australia}}{{cite web |last1=Ohlsen |first1=Daniel |last2=Messina |first2=Andre |title=Prostanthera walteri |url=https://vicflora.rbg.vic.gov.au/flora/taxon/a1310d7f-fd68-44c1-ac34-5b2587ceeb1d |publisher=Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria |access-date=7 October 2020}}{{cite journal |last1=Conn |first1=Barry J. |title=A taxonomic revision of Prostanthera Labill. Section Klanderia (F.v.Muell.) Benth. (Labiatae). |journal=Journal of the Adelaide Botanic Gardens |date=1984 |volume=6 |issue=3 |pages=336–338 |url=https://data.environment.sa.gov.au/Content/Publications/JABG06P207_Conn.pdf |access-date=7 October 2020}}
Taxonomy and naming
Prostanthera walteri was first formally described in 1870 by Victorian Government Botanist Ferdinand von Mueller in the seventh volume of Fragmenta Phytographiae Australiae, based on plant material collected by Carl Walter at Mount Ellery in East Gippsland. The specific epithet (walteri) honours the collector of the type specimens.{{cite web|title=Prostanthera walteri|url= https://id.biodiversity.org.au/instance/apni/544152|publisher=APNI|access-date=7 October 2020}}{{cite book |last1=von Mueller |first1=Ferdinand |title=Fragmenta Phytographiae Australiae` |date=1870 |publisher=Victorian Government Printer |location=Melbourne |pages=108–109 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/7224#page/109/mode/1up |access-date=7 October 2020}}{{cite web|title=Walter, Carl (1831 - 1907)|work=Biographical Notes|publisher=Australian National Herbarium|url=https://www.anbg.gov.au/biography/walter-carl.html|access-date=29 December 2013}}
Distribution and habitat
Blotchy mint-bush occurs on granitic soils in forests in New South Wales south from Mount Imlay to East Gippsland in north-eastern Victoria.{{cite book |title=Wild Plants of Victoria (database)|year=2009 |publisher=Viridans Biological Databases & Department of Sustainability and Environment}}
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q7250972}}
Category:Flora of New South Wales
Category:Flora of Victoria (state)