Prostanthera scutellarioides facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Prostanthera scutellarioides |
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| In the Gibraltar Range National Park | |
| Scientific classification | |
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Prostanthera
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| Species: |
scutellarioides
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| Occurrence data from AVH | |
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Prostanthera scutellarioides is a special kind of flowering plant. It's a shrub that only grows naturally in New South Wales, Australia. This plant is a bit bushy, can stand tall or spread low, and has a faint, nice smell. Its leaves are long and thin, and its flowers are a pretty pale to deep purple color. You'll find these flowers growing where the leaves meet the stem.
Contents
What Does Prostanthera scutellarioides Look Like?
This plant is a shrub that can grow straight up or spread out low to the ground. It usually reaches a height of about 0.3 to 2.5 meters (that's about 1 to 8 feet). Its branches have small ridges.
Leaves and Flowers
The leaves of Prostanthera scutellarioides are long and narrow, like tiny lines. They are usually between 6 and 25 millimeters long (about 0.2 to 1 inch). They are also very thin, only about 0.5 to 2 millimeters wide. The leaves slowly get narrower at their base, forming a tiny stalk called a petiole, which is less than 0.5 millimeters long.
The flowers grow where the leaves join the stem. At the base of each flower, there are small leaf-like parts called bracteoles, which are about 2.5 millimeters long.
The green parts that protect the flower bud are called sepals. They are 3 to 4.5 millimeters long and form a small tube. This tube has two parts, or lobes, at the top. The upper lobe is about 1.5 to 2.5 millimeters long. The colorful parts of the flower, the petals, are a lovely pale to deep purple. They are about 7 to 8 millimeters long.
When Does It Bloom?
This plant mostly flowers during spring and early summer. That's when you'll see its pretty mauve blooms.
How This Plant Got Its Name
This type of mintbush was first officially described in 1810. A botanist named Robert Brown gave it the name Chiloides scutellarioides. He wrote about it in a book called Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van Diemen.
Later, in 1895, another botanist named John Isaac Briquet changed its name. He renamed it Prostanthera scutellarioides, and he published this new name in a book called Die Natürlichen Pflanzenfamilien.
Where Does Prostanthera scutellarioides Grow?
You can find Prostanthera scutellarioides growing in woodlands and forests. It lives along the coast and on the high flat areas (tablelands) of New South Wales. It grows in the northern parts of the state, starting from the Windsor area.
