Prostanthera calycina

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West coast mintbush
Prostanthera calycina.jpg
In Maranoa Gardens
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Lamiales
Family: Lamiaceae
Genus: Prostanthera
Species:
P. calycina
Binomial name
Prostanthera calycina
Prostanthera calycinaDistA11.png
Occurrence data from AVH
Synonyms [1]
  • Prostanthera calicina Briq.

Prostanthera calycina, the West Coast mintbush, limestone mintbush or red mintbush, [2] is a species of flowering plant that is endemic to the Eyre Peninsula in South Australia. It is a small, more or less prostrate shrub with aromatic, elliptic to oblong leaves and red flowers.

Contents

Description

Prostanthera calycina is a more or less prostrate shrub that typically grows to a height of about 0.5 m (1 ft 8 in) and has more or less cylindrical, hairy branches. The leaves are well-spaced along the branchlets, elliptic to oblong, 4–14 mm (0.16–0.55 in) long and 3–5 mm (0.12–0.20 in) wide on a densely hairy petiole 0.8–1.4 mm (0.031–0.055 in) long. The leaves are strongly aromatic when crushed. The flowers are arranged singly in leaf axils on a hairy pedicel 2.5–4.5 mm (0.098–0.177 in) long. The sepals are 8–14 mm (0.31–0.55 in) long forming a tube 6–8 mm (0.24–0.31 in) long with two lobes 4–6 mm (0.16–0.24 in) long and 5–7 mm (0.20–0.28 in) wide. The petals are 17.5–22 mm (0.69–0.87 in) long forming a tube 13–15 mm (0.51–0.59 in) long with two lips. The middle lobe on the lower lip is about 4 mm (0.16 in) long and 3 mm (0.12 in) wide, the side lobes about 3 mm (0.12 in) long. The upper lip has two lobes about 5 mm (0.20 in) long and joined but with a small notch between them. Flowering occurs between September and December. [3] [4] [5]

Taxonomy

Prostanthera calycina was first formally described in 1870 by George Bentham from an unpublished description by Ferdinand von Mueller and the description was published in Flora Australiensis . [6] [7]

Distribution and habitat

West coast mintbush is only known from the Eyre Peninsula in South Australia where it usually grows on limestone outcrops in mallee vegetation. [5]

Conservation status

West coast mintbush is classified as "vulnerable" under the Australian Government Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 and the South Australian Government National Parks and Wildlife Act 1972 . The main threats to the species include grazing, habitat fragmentation and road maintenance. [5]

Use in horticulture

This mintbush is easily propagated from cuttings or by grafting onto Prostanthera nivea and grows best in dry climates in well drained soil. [5] [8]

Related Research Articles

<i>Prostanthera eurybioides</i> species of plant

Prostanthera eurybioides, commonly known as Monarto mintbush, is a species of flowering plant in the family Lamiaceae and is endemic to the south-east of South Australia. It is a low, spreading shrub with densely hairy branches, thick, elliptic to egg-shaped leaves clustered on short shoots, and violet to mid-purple flowers that are white with orange and dark purple dots inside the petal tube.

<i>Prostanthera nivea</i> Species of flowering plant

Prostanthera nivea, commonly known as snowy mint-bush, is a species of flowering plant in the family Lamiaceae and is endemic to eastern Australia. It is a shrub with linear to cylindrical leaves and white flowers arranged in leaf axils near the ends of branchlets and is one of the mint-bushes that is not aromatic.

<i>Prostanthera stenophylla</i> Species of flowering plant

Prostanthera stenophylla is a species of flowering plant in the family Lamiaceae and is endemic to Wollemi National Park in New South Wales. It is an erect, slender, aromatic shrub with hairy, oblong leaves and small groups of pale bluish mauve to violet flowers.

<i>Prostanthera striatiflora</i> Species of plant

Prostanthera striatiflora, commonly known as jockey's cap, striated mintbush or striped mintbush, is a species of flowering plant that is endemic to the more arid areas of Australia. It is an erect, aromatic shrub with narrow egg-shaped to narrow elliptic leaves and white flowers with purple lines inside the petal tube.

<i>Prostanthera hirtula</i> Species of flowering plant

Prostanthera hirtula, commonly known as hairy mintbush, is a species of flowering plant in the family Lamiaceae and is endemic to the south-eastern continental Australia. It is a strongly aromatic, densely hairy, spreading shrub with narrow egg-shaped leaves and dark mauve flowers, and that grows in exposed, rocky sites.

<i>Prostanthera spinosa</i> Species of plant

Prostanthera spinosa, commonly known as spiny mintbush, is a shrub that is endemic to south-eastern Australia. It has mauve to white flowers, spiny stems and aromatic foliage.

<i>Prostanthera junonis</i> Species of flowering plant

Prostanthera junonis, commonly known as Somersby mintbush, is a species of flowering plant in the family Lamiaceae and is endemic to the Central Coast of New South Wales. It is a low, straggling shrub with hairy, egg-shaped leaves and purple to mauve flowers.

<i>Prostanthera ammophila</i> Species of flowering plant

Prostanthera ammophila, commonly known as sand mintbush, is a species of flowering plant in the family Lamiaceae and is endemic to southern areas of South Australia. It is an erect to spreading shrub with egg-shaped to narrow elliptical leaves and white and purple to mauve flowers with yellow spots inside.

Prostanthera athertoniana is a species of flowering plant in the family Lamiaceae and is endemic to a restricted area of Queensland. It is a small, densely-foliaged shrub with strongly aromatic, elliptical, oblong or egg-shaped leaves and hairy, purplish-mauve flowers arranged singly in upper leaf axils.

<i>Prostanthera behriana</i> Species of flowering plant

Prostanthera behriana, commonly known as tall mintbush, is a species of flowering plant in the family Lamiaceae and is endemic to the south-east of South Australia. It is an erect to straggling shrub with egg-shaped leaves and white, pale blue, pale violet or purplish white flowers with red-brown spots or purple streaks inside.

<i>Prostanthera canaliculata</i> Species of flowering plant

Prostanthera canaliculata is a species of flowering plant in the family Lamiaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a small, erect shrub with hairy branchlets, narrow egg-shaped to narrow elliptical leaves and pale blue or pale violet to white flowers with no markings.

<i>Prostanthera centralis</i> Species of plant

Prostanthera centralis is a species of flowering plant in the family Lamiaceae and is endemic to an area near the border between the Northern Territory and Western Australia. It is an erect shrub with hairy branchlets, hairy egg-shaped to elliptical leaves and mauve to blue flowers.

<i>Prostanthera chlorantha</i> Species of flowering plant

Prostanthera chlorantha, commonly known as green mintbush, is a species of flowering plant in the family Lamiaceae and is endemic to the south-east of South Australia. It is a small shrub with small, broadly egg-shaped to round leaves and mauve, bluish green, or greenish red to greenish yellow flowers with a pink tinge.

<i>Prostanthera densa</i> Species of flowering plant

Prostanthera densa, commonly known as villous mint-bush, is a species of flowering plant in the family Lamiaceae and is endemic to near-coastal areas of New South Wales. It is an erect, often compact shrub with aromatic branches, egg-shaped leaves, and mauve flowers with orange markings inside.

<i>Prostanthera eckersleyana</i> Species of flowering plant

Prostanthera eckersleyana, commonly known as crinkly mintbush, is a species of flowering plant in the family Lamiaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is an erect or spreading shrub with sticky, hairy branchlets, egg-shaped to elliptical leaves and blue, mauve to purple or violet flowers with maroon spots inside the petal tube.

<i>Prostanthera ferricola</i> Species of flowering plant

Prostanthera ferricola is a species of flowering plant in the family Lamiaceae and is endemic to central Western Australia. It is an erect, openly branched shrub with aromatic, egg-shaped leaves and mauve-purple flowers arranged in four to twelve leaf axils near the end of branchlets.

<i>Prostanthera florifera</i> species of plant

Prostanthera florifera, commonly known as Gawler Ranges mintbush, 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.

<i>Prostanthera mulliganensis</i> Species of flowering plant

Prostanthera mulliganensis, commonly known as Mount Mulligan prostanthera, is a species of flowering plant that is endemic to Mount Mulligan in Queensland. It is a small shrub with hairy branchlets, oblong to egg-shaped leaves and mauve flowers with purple to dark mauve markings.

<i>Prostanthera nanophylla</i> Species of flowering plant

Prostanthera nanophylla is a species of flowering plant in the family Lamiaceae and is endemic to Western Australia. It is a small shrub with hairy branches, egg-shaped to elliptic or narrow oblong leaves and mauve or blue to white flowers with dull brown, maroon or purple spots.

<i>Prostanthera patens</i> Species of flowering plant

Prostanthera patens is a species of flowering plant in the family Lamiaceae and is endemic to Western Australia. It is a small shrub with stiff, spine-like, hairy branches, egg-shaped to broadly elliptic, hairy leaves and red and orange to pale red flowers.

References

  1. 1 2 "Prostanthera calycina". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 22 August 2020.
  2. "SPRAT Profile: Prostanthera calycina — West Coast Mintbush, Limestone Mintbush, Red Mintbush". Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment. Retrieved 22 August 2020.
  3. "Prostanthera calycina". State Herbarium of South Australia. Retrieved 22 August 2020.
  4. Conn, Barry John (1984). "A taxonomic revision of Prostanthera Labill. Section Klanderia (F.v.Muell.) Benth. (Labiatae)" (PDF). Journal of the Adelaide Botanic Gardens. 6 (3): 303–305. Retrieved 22 August 2020.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "Approved Conservation Advice for Prostanthera calycina (West Coast Mintbush)" (PDF). Australian Government Department of the Environment. Retrieved 22 August 2020.
  6. "Prostanthera calycina". Australian Plant Name Index. Retrieved 22 August 2020.
  7. Bentham, George; von Mueller, Ferdinand (1870). Flora Australiensis. pp. 107–108. Retrieved 22 August 2020.
  8. "Prostanthera calycina". Australian Native Plants Society (Australia). Retrieved 22 August 2020.