Balm mint bush | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Asterids |
Order: | Lamiales |
Family: | Lamiaceae |
Genus: | Prostanthera |
Species: | P. melissifolia |
Binomial name | |
Prostanthera melissifolia | |
Occurrence data from AVH | |
Synonyms [1] | |
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Prostanthera melissifolia, commonly known as balm mint bush, [2] is a species of flowering plant in the family Lamiaceae and is endemic to south-eastern Australia. It is an erect shrub with hairy branches, egg-shaped leaves with fine teeth on the edges and mauve to purple or pink flowers on the ends of branchlets.
Prostanthera melissifolia is an erect shrub that typically grows to a height of 1–2 m (3 ft 3 in – 6 ft 7 in) and has hairy, glandular branches. The leaves are dark green above, paler below, egg-shaped, 15–30 mm (0.59–1.18 in) long and 10–15 mm (0.39–0.59 in) wide on a petiole 10–15 mm (0.39–0.59 in) long. There are fine teeth on the edges of the leaves and the midrid and veins are hairy. The flowers are arranged in bunches of ten to twenty on the ends of branchlets with bracteoles 1–2.2 mm (0.039–0.087 in) long at the base but that fall off as the flowers develop. The sepals are green, often with a maroon tinge, and form a tube 2 mm (0.079 in) long with two egg-shaped to oblong lobes 1.5–2.5 mm (0.059–0.098 in) long. The petals are mauve to purple or pink, 10–12 mm (0.39–0.47 in) long and form a bell-shaped tube 5–6 mm (0.20–0.24 in) long with two lips. The central lobe of the lower lip is 5.5–7 mm (0.22–0.28 in) long and 5–6 mm (0.20–0.24 in) wide and the side lobes are 4–6 mm (0.16–0.24 in) long and 5–6 mm (0.20–0.24 in) wide. The upper lip is 3–3.5 mm (0.12–0.14 in) long and 7–8 mm (0.28–0.31 in) wide with a central notch 3–3.5 mm (0.12–0.14 in) deep. Flowering occurs in spring. [2] [3] [4]
Prostanthera melissifolia was first formally described in 1858 by Ferdinand von Mueller in Fragmenta Phytographiae Australiae . [5] [6] The specific epithet (melissifolia) is in reference to the foliage resembling Melissa , a genus of perennial herbs. [7] [8]
Balm mint bush grows in tall montane forests between the Otway and Strzelecki Ranges in Victoria and on the far south coast of New South Wales.
Prostanthera galbraithiae, commonly known as Wellington mint-bush, is a species of flowering plant in the family Lamiaceae and is endemic to Victoria in Australia. It is an erect or spreading shrub with densely hairy branches that are more or less square in cross-section, narrow egg-shaped or oblong leaves with the edges rolled under, and deep mauve to purple flowers with maroon dots inside the petal tube.
Prostanthera phylicifolia, commonly known as spiked mint-bush, is a species of plant in the family Lamiaceae. It is an erect shrub with four-ridged branches, narrow egg-shaped to oval leaves and white or pale lilac-coloured flowers with purple and yellow spots.
Prostanthera magnifica, commonly known as magnificent prostanthera, is a species of flowering plant in the family Lamiaceae and is endemic to Western Australia. It is a slender to spreading, erect shrub that has hairy stems, elliptical to narrow egg-shaped leaves and pale mauve or pale blue to pink flowers with prominent dark mauve to purple sepals.
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.
Prostanthera decussata, commonly known as dense mintbush, species of flowering plant that is endemic south-eastern Australia. It is a dense, compact, strongly aromatic shrub with egg-shaped leaves and mauve to violet flowers with yellow streaks, arranged in leaf axils near the ends of branchlets.
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.
Prostanthera staurophylla, commonly known as Tenterfield mint-bush, is a species of flowering plant in the family Lamiaceae and is endemic to a small area on the New England Tableland of New South Wales. It is an erect to spreading, strongly aromatic shrub with hairy branches, deeply lobed leaves and bluish-mauve flowers with darker markings.
Prostanthera prostantheroides is a plant in the family Lamiaceae and is endemic to Western Australia. It is a shrub with heart-shaped to round leaves and usually white flowers with purple spots inside the petal tube.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Prostanthera grylloana is a species of flowering plant in the family Lamiaceae and is endemic to Western Australia. It is a small, erect shrub with densely hairy branchlets, small, spatula-shaped leaves and red to pink flowers.
Prostanthera hindii is a species of flowering plant in the family Lamiaceae and is endemic to the Central Tablelands of New South Wales. It is a small, erect shrub with densely hairy branches, egg-shaped leaves, and mauve flowers with deep mauve to dark purple colouration inside the petal tube.
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.
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.
Prostanthera tozerana is a species of flowering plant that is endemic to Mount Tozer in Queensland. It is a small, compact shrub with hairy branchlets, thick egg-shaped leaves with the narrower end towards the base, and pale purplish-mauve flowers.
Prostanthera wilkieana is a species of flowering plant that is endemic to the more arid areas of Australia. It is an erect, densely-branched shrub with elliptic to narrow egg-shaped leaves with the narrower end towards the base and mauve to pale violet or white flowers with deep purple streaks and yellowish brown dots inside the petal tube.