Hairy mintbush facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Hairy mintbush |
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| In Grampians National Park | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Genus: |
Prostanthera
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| Species: |
hirtula
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| Occurrence data from AVH | |
| Synonyms | |
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The Hairy Mintbush (scientific name: Prostanthera hirtula) is a special kind of flowering plant. It belongs to the Lamiaceae family, which includes mint plants! This shrub is only found in south-eastern Australia. It smells very strong, has lots of soft hairs, and grows wide rather than tall. Its leaves look like narrow eggs, and its flowers are a beautiful dark purple color. You'll often find it growing in rocky places that are open to the sun and wind.
What the Hairy Mintbush Looks Like
The Hairy Mintbush is a shrub that smells very strong, like mint. It has many soft hairs all over it. This plant usually grows between 0.4 and 2 meters (about 1.3 to 6.5 feet) tall. It tends to spread out rather than grow straight up.
Its leaves are a medium green color. They are shaped like narrow eggs or narrow ovals. Each leaf is about 10 to 30 millimeters (0.4 to 1.2 inches) long and 1.5 to 6 millimeters (0.06 to 0.24 inches) wide. The underside of the leaves has many tiny glands, which are like small bumps that might produce oils. Each leaf sits on a short stem called a petiole, which is about 0.5 to 2 millimeters long.
The flowers grow near the ends of the branches, where the leaves join the stem. At the base of each flower, there are small leaf-like parts called bracteoles, which are about 2 millimeters long. The green outer parts of the flower, called sepals, are 5 to 7 millimeters long. They form a tube about 3 millimeters long with two lobes (sections) at the top. The upper lobe is 2 to 4 millimeters long.
The petals, which are the colorful parts of the flower, are a dark purple or mauve color. They are about 8 to 10 millimeters long. The Hairy Mintbush usually blooms in the spring.
How the Hairy Mintbush Got Its Name
The Hairy Mintbush was first officially described in 1870. A scientist named George Bentham wrote the formal description. He used notes from another scientist, Ferdinand von Mueller, who had not yet published his own description.
The plants used for this description were collected in a few places. Mueller found specimens at Mount Buffalo and Mount Disappointment. Another person, Carl Wilhelmi, collected plants in the Grampians. Bentham's description was then published in a book called Flora Australiensis.
Where the Hairy Mintbush Lives
You can find the Hairy Mintbush growing in high, rocky areas. It prefers places with woodlands or open forests. In New South Wales, it grows from the Blue Mountains all the way to the Budawang Range. It also grows in southern Victoria.
