''Prostanthera chlorantha'', commonly known as green mintbush, 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, savo ...

and is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found els ...

to the south-east of South Australia. It is a small shrub with small, broadly egg-shaped to round leaves and mauve, bluish green, or greenish red to greenish yellow flowers with a pink tinge.

Description

''Prostanthera chlorantha'' is a shrub that typically grows to a height of with more or less cylindrical stems. The leaves are broadly egg-shaped to more or less round, long, wide and sessile. The flowers are arranged on

pedicels In botany, a pedicel is a stem that attaches a single flower to the inflorescence. Such inflorescences are described as ''pedicellate''. Description Pedicel refers to a structure connecting a single flower to its inflorescence. In the absenc ...

long and the

sepal A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 The term ''sepalum'' was coined ...

s are green, often with reddish-purple streaks, long forming a tube long with two lobes long and wide. The petals are , mauve, bluish green, or greenish red to greenish yellow with a pink tinge, and fused to form a tube long. The lower lip has three lobes, the centre lobe long and about wide and the side lobes are long and about wide. The upper lip has is broadly egg-shaped to round long and wide with a small notch in the centre.

Taxonomy

Green mintbush was first formally described in 1853 by

Ferdinand von Mueller Baron Sir Ferdinand Jacob Heinrich von Mueller, (german: Müller; 30 June 1825 – 10 October 1896) was a German-Australian physician, geographer, and most notably, a botanist. He was appointed government botanist for the then colony of Vic ...

who gave it the name ''Klanderia chlorantha'' in the journal ''

Linnaea ''Linnaea'' is a plant genus in the honeysuckle family Caprifoliaceae. Until 2013, the genus included a single species, ''Linnaea borealis''. In 2013, on the basis of molecular phylogenetic evidence, the genus was expanded to include species f ...

''. In 1870 Mueller changed the name to ''Prostanthera chlorantha'' and the change was published by

George Bentham George Bentham (22 September 1800 – 10 September 1884) was an English botanist, described by the weed botanist Duane Isely as "the premier systematic botanist of the nineteenth century". Born into a distinguished family, he initially studi ...

in ''

Flora Australiensis ''Flora Australiensis: a description of the plants of the Australian Territory'', more commonly referred to as ''Flora Australiensis'', and also known by its standard abbreviation ''Fl. Austral.'', is a seven-volume flora of Australia published b ...

''.

Distribution and habitat

''Prostanthera chlorantha'' grows in scattered populations in mallee and shrubland in the south-east of South Australia.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15355416 chlorantha Flora of South Australia Lamiales of Australia Taxa named by Ferdinand von Mueller Plants described in 1853