''Prostanthera nivea'', commonly known as snowy mint-bush, 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 eastern Australia. It is a shrub with linear to cylindrical leaves and white flowers arranged in leaf axils near the ends of branchlets and is one of the mint-bushes that is not aromatic.

Description

''Prostanthera nivea'' is an erect or spreading shrub that grows to a height of with four-ridged branches but is not aromatic. The leaves are linear to more or less cylindrical, long and wide and

sessile Sessility, or sessile, may refer to: * Sessility (motility), organisms which are not able to move about * Sessility (botany), flowers or leaves that grow directly from the stem or peduncle of a plant * Sessility (medicine), tumors and polyps that ...

. The flowers are arranged in leaf axils near the ends of branches 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 ...

that are inconspicuous or up to long at the base. 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 long forming a tube long with two lobes, the upper lobe long. The petals are white to mauve, long with yellow spots inside the tube. Flowering occurs from September to December.

Taxonomy

''Prostanthera nivea'' was first formally described in 1834 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 ...

from an unpublished description by

Alan Cunningham General Sir Alan Gordon Cunningham, (1 May 1887 – 30 January 1983) was a senior officer of the British Army noted for his victories over Italian forces in the East African Campaign during the Second World War. Later he served as the seventh ...

. Bentham's description was published in his book ''Labiatarum Genera et Species''. Bentham described two varieties and the names are accepted by the

Australian Plant Census The Australian Plant Census (APC) provides an online interface to currently accepted, published, scientific names of the vascular flora of Australia, as one of the output interfaces of the national government Integrated Biodiversity Information Syst ...

: *''Prostanthera nivea'' var. ''induta'' Benth., an erect, often dense shrub high with branches densely covered with white hairs, leaves mostly wide and leafy, linear bracteoles long; *''Prostanthera nivea'' A.Cunn. ex Benth. var. ''nivea'', an erect, often thin shrub high with branches that are

glabrous Glabrousness (from the Latin '' glaber'' meaning "bald", "hairless", "shaved", "smooth") is the technical term for a lack of hair, down, setae, trichomes or other such covering. A glabrous surface may be a natural characteristic of all or part o ...

or only sparsely covered with white hairs, leaves mostly wide and inconspicuous bracteoles.

Distribution and habitat

Snowy mint-bush grows in forest, woodland and heath in south-eastern Queensland, eastern New South Wales and Victoria. Subspecies ''induta'' grows in rocky crevices or on ledges in the

Warrumbungles The Warrumbungles is a mountain range in the Orana region of New South Wales, Australia. The nearest town is Coonabarabran. The area is easiest accessed from the Newell Highway which is the major road link directly between Melbourne, Victo ...

with a single collection from the

Pilliga forest The Pilliga Forest, sometimes known as the Pilliga Scrub, constitute over 5,000 km2 of semi-arid woodland in temperate north-central New South Wales, Australia. It is the largest such continuous remnant in the state. The forest is lo ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q7250964

nivea Nivea (, stylized as NIVEA) is a German personal care brand that specializes in skin and body care. It is owned by the Hamburg-based company Beiersdorf Global AG. The company was founded on 28 March 1882, by Paul Carl Beiersdorf. In 1890, it ...

Flora of Queensland Flora of New South Wales Flora of Victoria (state) Lamiales of Australia Plants described in 1834 Taxa named by Allan Cunningham (botanist)