Crinkly mintbush facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Crinkly mintbush |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Genus: |
Prostanthera
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| Species: |
eckersleyana
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| Occurrence data from AVH | |
The crinkly mintbush (scientific name: Prostanthera eckersleyana) is a beautiful flowering plant. It belongs to the Lamiaceae family, which includes mints. This special shrub grows only in the south-west part of Western Australia. It's known for its sticky, hairy branches and pretty blue, mauve, or purple flowers. These flowers often have cool maroon spots inside!
Contents
What Does It Look Like?
The crinkly mintbush is a shrub that can grow upright or spread out. It usually reaches a height of about 0.2 to 1 meter (which is 8 inches to 3 feet). Its branches are round, sticky, and covered in tiny hairs.
The leaves are a mid-green color and have an oval or egg shape. They are also sticky and smell nice, like mint! Each leaf is about 7 to 10 millimeters long (less than half an inch) and 3.5 to 8.5 millimeters wide. They sit on a small stalk called a petiole, which is about 1 to 1.5 millimeters long.
The Flowers
The flowers grow one by one in the leaf corners near the ends of the branches. Each flower has a hairy stalk called a pedicel, about 1.5 to 3.5 millimeters long.
The green sepals, which are like small leaves protecting the bud, have a mauve or purple tint. They form a tube about 4.5 to 5.5 millimeters long. This tube has two parts, called lobes. The lower lobe is about 3.5 to 4.5 millimeters long, and the upper lobe is about 3 to 5 millimeters long.
The flower's main parts, the petals, are blue, mauve, purple, or violet. They have maroon spots inside their tube. The petals are 15 to 24 millimeters long and are joined together to form a tube about 14 to 18 millimeters long. The edges of these petals are crinkled, which gives the plant its "crinkly" name!
The lower part of the flower has three lobes. The middle lobe is shaped like a spatula, about 8 to 10 millimeters long and 9 to 10 millimeters wide. The side lobes are smaller, about 3.5 to 6.5 millimeters long and 3 to 6.5 millimeters wide. The upper part of the flower is about 5 to 7 millimeters long and 10 to 13 millimeters wide, with a small notch about 2.5 to 5 millimeters deep.
You can see these beautiful flowers from May to July or in December.
How It Got Its Name
The Science of Naming Plants
The scientific name Prostanthera eckersleyana was first officially written down in 1876. This was done by a famous botanist named Ferdinand von Mueller. He described the plant in his book Fragmenta phytographiae Australiae.
The second part of its scientific name, eckersleyana, was chosen to honor a person named Florence Eckersley. This is how many plants get their unique names!
Where It Grows
Home Sweet Home
This special mintbush grows in the south-west of Western Australia. You can often find it on flat plains. It likes to grow alongside other plants like Melaleuca (also known as paperbarks) and Acacia (wattle) species. It lives in specific natural areas of Western Australia, including the Avon Wheatbelt, Coolgardie, and Yalgoo regions.
Is It Safe?
Looking After Our Plants
The Western Australian Government's Department of Parks and Wildlife has looked at the crinkly mintbush. They have officially said that it is "not threatened." This means there are enough of these plants in the wild, and they are not currently at risk of disappearing.
