''Prostanthera lanceolata'' 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 near-coastal area of eastern Australia. It is an erect, aromatic shrub that has stems that are square in cross-section,

glandular In animals, a gland is a group of cells in an animal's body that synthesizes substances (such as hormones) for release into the bloodstream (endocrine gland) or into cavities inside the body or its outer surface (exocrine gland). Structure De ...

, egg-shaped leaves and mauve or deep bluish-purple flowers.

Description

''Prostanthera lanceolata'' is an erect, aromatic shrub that typically grows to a height of and has branches that are square in cross-section. The leaves are mid to dark green, paler below, narrow egg-shaped to egg-shaped, long and wide on a petiole long. The flowers are arranged in bunches near the ends of branchlets with

bracteoles In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, especially one associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves. They may be smaller, larger, or of ...

about long at the base, but that fall off as the flower develops. 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 about long, forming a tube about long with two lobes, the upper lobe long. The petals are mauve to deep bluish-purple and long. Flowering occurs in spring. This species is included in ''

Prostanthera ovalifolia ''Prostanthera ovalifolia'', commonly known as the oval-leaf mintbush or purple mintbush, is a species of flowering plant in the family Lamiaceae and is endemic to south-eastern continental Australia. It is an erect shrub with egg-shaped leaves ...

'' in Queensland.

Taxonomy

''Prostanthera lanceolata'' was first formally described in 1928 by

Karel Domin Karel Domin (4 May 1882, Kutná Hora, Kingdom of Bohemia – 10 June 1953, Prague) was a Czech botanist and politician. After gymnasium school studies in Příbram, he studied botany at the Charles University in Prague, and graduated in 190 ...

in ''

Bibliotheca Botanica ''Bibliotheca Botanica'' ("Bibliography of botany", Amsterdam, 1736, Salomen Schouten; 2nd edn., 1751) is a botany book by Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus (1707–1778). The book was written and published in Amsterdam when Linnaeus was twenty ...

'' from material he collected near the "Tambourine Mountains" in 1910.

Distribution and habitat

This mintbush grows in forest in near-coastal areas of New South Wales and Queensland.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15355220 lanceolata Flora of New South Wales Flora of Queensland Lamiales of Australia Plants described in 1997 Taxa named by Karel Domin