Prostanthera cruciflora

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.

Prostanthera cruciflora
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Lamiales
Family: Lamiaceae
Genus: Prostanthera
Species:
P. cruciflora
Binomial name
Prostanthera cruciflora
Occurrence data from AVH
Habit in the Mount Kaputar National Park

Description

Prostanthera cruciflora is an erect, strongly aromatic shrub that typically grows to a height of 1.5–2 m (4 ft 11 in–6 ft 7 in) with branchlets densely covered with glands. Its leaves are greyish green, egg-shaped, 6–20 mm (0.24–0.79 in) long and 8–15 mm (0.31–0.59 in) wide on a petiole 3–10 mm (0.12–0.39 in) long, and densely glandular. The flowers are arranged in groups of about eight, the sepals about 8 mm (0.31 in) long, forming a tube about 3.5 mm (0.14 in) long with two lobes, the upper lobe about 2.5 mm (0.098 in) long. The petals are 6–9 mm (0.24–0.35 in) long and white with yellow streaks on the lower lobe. Flowering occurs from August to December.[2][3]

Taxonomy and naming

Prostanthera cruciflora was first formally described in 1967 by James Hamlyn Willis in the journal Muelleria.[3][4] The specific epithet (cruciflora) is "an allusion to the cross-shaped lower lip of the corolla".[3]

Distribution and habitat

This mint bush grows in heath on exposed rock outcrops in the Mount Kaputar National Park and on nearby ranges.[2]

References
  1. "Prostanthera cruciflora". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  2. Conn, Barry J. "Prostanthera cruciflora". Royal Botanic Garden Sydney. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  3. Willis, James H. (1967). "Systematic Notes on the Indigenous Australian Flora". Muelleria. 1 (3): 144–145. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  4. "Prostanthera cruciflora". Australian Plant Name Index. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
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