''Prostanthera centralis'' 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 an area near the border between the Northern Territory and Western Australia. It is an erect shrub with hairy branchlets, hairy egg-shaped to elliptical leaves and mauve to blue flowers.
Description
''Prostanthera centralis'' is an erect shrub that typically grows to a height of and has more or less cylindrical, densely hairy branchlets. The leaves are densely hairy, egg-shaped to elliptical, long, wide on a petiole long. The flowers are arranged singly in 16 to 46 leaf axils on the ends of branchlets, each flower on a densely hairy
pedicel
Pedicle or pedicel may refer to:
Human anatomy
*Pedicle of vertebral arch, the segment between the transverse process and the vertebral body, and is often used as a radiographic marker and entry point in vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty procedures
...
long. The sepals are green with a purplish tip and form a tube long with two lobes, the lower lobe long and wide, the upper lobe long and wide. The petals are purplish blue, or mauve to blue, long and form a tube long. The lower lip has three lobes, the centre lobe egg-shaped to almost round, long and wide and the side lobes about long and wide. The upper lip has two egg-shaped lobes long and wide. Flowering occurs from July to October.
Taxonomy
''Prostanthera centralis'' was first formally described in 1988 by
Barry Conn
Barry John Conn (Barry Conn, born 1948), is an Australian botanist. He was awarded a Ph.D. from Adelaide University in 1982 for work on ''Prostanthera''.
Career
Conn's first appointment as a botanist was with the Lae Herbarium in 1974. He ...
in the journal '' Nuytsia'' from specimens collected in the Dean Range, near the
Kaltukatjara
Kaltukatjara , also known as Docker River, is a remote Indigenous Australian community in the Northern Territory of Australia. It is southwest of Alice Springs, Northern Territory, Alice Springs, west of the Stuart Highway, near the Western Aust ...
settlement.
Distribution and habitat
This mintbush grows on rocky scree slopes in the
Central Ranges
Central Ranges (code CER) is an Australian bioregion, with an area of 101,640.44 square kilometres (39,244 sq mi) spreading across two states and one territory: South Australia, Western Australia, and the Northern Territory.bioregion near the border between the Northern Territory and Western Australia.
Conservation status
''Prostanthera centralis'' is classified as " Priority Three" by the Government of Western Australia
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 e ...
meaning that it is poorly known and known from only a few locations but is not under imminent threat.