''Prostanthera cuneata'', commonly known as alpine mint bush, is a species of flowering plant in the mint 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 mountainous areas of south-eastern continental Australia. It is an erect, compact shrub with egg-shaped leaves with the narrower end towards the base, and pale lavendar to almost white flowers with purple blotches.

Description

''Prostanthera cuneata'' is usually an erect, more or less compact shrub that typically grows to a height of but often tending to prostrate as it ages. The branches are more or less cylindrical and covered with white hairs. The leaves are strongly aromatic when crushed, egg-shaped with the lower end towards the base, often appearing wedge-shaped, long, wide and sessile or on a petiole up to long. The flowers are arranged singly in four to ten leaf axils near the ends of branchlets, each flower on a

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, usually tinged with purple and form a tube wide with two lobes. The lower sepal lobe is long and the upper lobe long. The petals are pale lavendar to almost white with reddish or purple blotches inside, long, forming a tube long. The lower central lobe is long and the upper lobes are long with a central notch long. Flowering occurs from November to April.

Taxonomy and naming

''Prostanthera cuneata'' was first formally described in 1848 by botanist George Bentham in de Candolle's treatise '' Prodromus Systematis Naturalis Regni Vegetabilis''. The

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

''cuneata'' means "wedge-shaped".

Distribution and habitat

Alpine mint bush occurs in alpine and subalpine closed heath and shrubland in granite-based soils in New South Wales and Victoria, often in association with snow gums (''

Eucalyptus pauciflora ''Eucalyptus pauciflora'', commonly known as snow gum, cabbage gum or white sally, is a species of tree or mallee that is native to eastern Australia. It has smooth bark, lance-shaped to elliptical leaves, flower buds in clusters of between sev ...

''). In Tasmania, the species is listed as "presumed to be extinct" under the state's Threatened Species Protection Act 1995. In New South Wales it is found south from the Brindabella Range and in north-eastern Victoria at altitudes between about .

Use in horticulture

In cultivation this plant has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's

Award of Garden Merit The Award of Garden Merit (AGM) is a long-established annual award for plants by the British Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). It is based on assessment of the plants' performance under UK growing conditions. History The Award of Garden Merit ...

. It has an RHS hardiness rating of H4 (hardy throughout most of the UK, down to -5°/-10 °C) and is suited to USDA hardiness zones 8 to 9.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q7250958 cuneata Flora of New South Wales Flora of Victoria (state) Flora of the Australian Capital Territory Lamiales of Australia Garden plants Plants described in 1848 Taxa named by George Bentham