''Prostanthera nanophylla'' 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 Western Australia. It is a small shrub with hairy branches, egg-shaped to elliptic or narrow oblong leaves and mauve or blue to white flowers with dull brown, maroon or purple spots.

Description

''Prostanthera nanophylla'' is a shrub that typically grows to a height of and has hairy, glandular branches. The leaves are usually clustered towards the ends of the shorter branchlets and are egg-shaped to elliptic or narrow oblong, long, about wide and sessile. The flowers are arranged in groups of six to ten near the ends of branchlets, each flower on a hairy pedicel long. The sepals are green to maroon, and form a tube long with two lobes, the lower lobe long and the upper lobe long. The petals are mauve or blue to white with dull brown, maroon or purple spots, long and form a tube long. The lower lip of the petal tube has three lobes, the centre lobe egg-shaped, long and the side lobes long. The upper lip is about long and wide with a central notch up to deep. Flowering occurs from August to November.

Taxonomy

''Prostanthera nanophylla'' was first formally described in 1988 by Barry Conn in the journal '' Nuytsia'' from specimens collected in 1975 near Koorda by Joseph Zvonko Weber (1930-1996).

Distribution and habitat

This mintbush grows in rocky places and on sandplains and has been collected in the Avon Wheatbelt, Coolgardie 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 ...

Conservation status

''Prostanthera nanophylla'' 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 en ...

meaning that it is poorly known and known from only a few locations but is not under imminent threat.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15355093 laricoides Flora of Western Australia Lamiales of Australia Taxa named by Barry John Conn Plants described in 1988