Blotchy mint-bush facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Blotchy mint-bush |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Genus: |
Prostanthera
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| Species: |
walteri
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| Occurrence data from AVH | |
The Prostanthera walteri, also known as the blotchy mint-bush, is a special type of flowering plant. It grows only in south-eastern Australia. This plant is a sprawling shrub, meaning it spreads out. It has tangled, hairy branches and leaves shaped like eggs. Its flowers are usually bluish-green with bright purple veins. You'll find these flowers growing one by one where the leaves meet the stem.
What Does It Look Like?
The blotchy mint-bush is a sprawling shrub that usually grows to be about 1 to 2 meters (about 3 to 6.5 feet) tall. Its branches are often tangled and wiry, covered in tiny hairs and glands.
The leaves are shaped like eggs and are typically 18 to 26 millimeters (about 0.7 to 1 inch) long and 5 to 15 millimeters (about 0.2 to 0.6 inches) wide. They sit on a small stalk called a petiole, which is 2 to 5 millimeters long. The underside of the leaves is hairy, while the top surface is grooved and mostly smooth.
The flowers grow one by one from where the leaves join the stem. Each flower has a hairy stalk, called a pedicel, which is 3 to 6 millimeters long. At the base of the sepals (the leaf-like parts that protect the bud), there are small leaf-like structures called bracteoles, about 4 to 6.5 millimeters long.
The sepals are 10 to 12 millimeters long and form a tube about 4 to 5 millimeters long. They have two lobes (sections) that are 3 to 6 millimeters long. The petals, which are the colorful parts of the flower, are 18 to 26 millimeters long. They form a tube that is 12 to 16 millimeters long and are usually bluish-green with noticeable purple veins.
The lowest middle part of the flower's tube is 5 to 10 millimeters long and 3 to 9.5 millimeters wide. The side parts are 5 to 7 millimeters long and 1 to 1.5 millimeters wide. The top part is broadly egg-shaped, 5 to 10 millimeters long and 6 to 10 millimeters wide, with a small notch at the top. This plant usually flowers in the summer.
How It Got Its Name
The blotchy mint-bush was officially described in 1870 by a botanist named Ferdinand von Mueller. He was the Victorian Government Botanist at the time. He wrote about it in the seventh volume of his book, Fragmenta Phytographiae Australiae.
The plant material he used to describe it was collected by Carl Walter at Mount Ellery in a place called East Gippsland. The plant's specific name, walteri, was chosen to honor Carl Walter, who collected the first samples of this plant. These first samples are called "type specimens."
Where It Grows
The blotchy mint-bush grows in forests. It prefers soils that are made from granite. You can find it in New South Wales, south from Mount Imlay, all the way to East Gippsland in north-eastern Victoria.
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