''Prostanthera baxteri'' is a species of flowering plant in the family

Lamiaceae The Lamiaceae ( ) or Labiatae are a family of flowering plants commonly known as the mint, deadnettle or sage family. Many of the plants are aromatic in all parts and include widely used culinary herbs like basil, mint, rosemary, sage, savory ...

and is endemic to the south-east of Western Australia. It is an erect shrub with narrow egg-shaped to linear leaves and white flowers with a tinge of blue to pale mauve.

Description

''Prostanthera baxteri'' is an erect shrub that typically grows to a height of with stems that usually appear white because of their dense covering of white hairs. The leaves are narrow egg-shaped to linear, light green, long, wide and sessile. The flowers are arranged singly on the ends of branchlets in eight to fourteen leaf axils, each flower on a pedicel long. The sepals are green with a maroon tinge and form a tube long with two lobes, the lower lobe long and the upper lobe long. The petals are white with a tinge of blue to pale mauve, and fused to form a tube long. The lower lip has three lobes, the centre lobe spatula-shaped, long and wide and the side lobes long and wide. The upper lip has two lobes long and about wide. Flowering occurs from August to November.

Taxonomy

''Prostanthera baxteri'' was first formally described in 1834 by George Bentham in his book ''Labiatarum genera et species'', from an unpublished description by Allan Cunningham. The

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specimens were collected near King George Sound.

Distribution and habitat

This mintbush grows on granite outcrops, rocky places and sandplains in mallee and heath communities in the Esperance Plains and Mallee

biogeographic regions A biogeographic realm or ecozone is the broadest biogeographic division of Earth's land surface, based on distributional patterns of terrestrial organisms. They are subdivided into bioregions, which are further subdivided into ecoregions. De ...

in the south of Western Australia.

Conservation status

''Prostanthera baxteri'' is classified as "not threatened" by the Western Australian Government

Department of Parks and Wildlife The Department of Parks and Wildlife (DPaW) was the department of the Government of Western Australia responsible for managing lands described in the ''Conservation and Land Management Act 1984'' and implementing the state's conservation and en ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15355119 baxteri Flora of Western Australia Lamiales of Australia Taxa named by Allan Cunningham (botanist) Plants described in 1834