''Prostanthera schultzii'' 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 the Northern Territory. It is a shrub with heart-shaped to round or paddle-shaped leaves and white flowers with purple spots and yellow patches on the lower lip.

Description

''Prostanthera schultzii'' is a shrub that typically grows to a height of and has branches that become stiff and spine-like with age. The leaves are heart-shaped to round or paddle-shaped, long on a short petiole. The flowers are sessile and arranged in groups on the ends of branches with sepals forming a tube long with two lobes. The petals are white with purple spots and yellow patches on the lower lip and form a tube about long. The lower lip of the petal tube has three lobes, the centre lobe wide and the side lobes about long and wide. The upper lip has two lobes long and wide. Flowering occurs in April and July and from September to November.

Taxonomy

''Prostanthera schultzii'' was first formally described in 1896 by

Ralph Tate Ralph Tate (11 March 1840 – 20 September 1901) was a British-born botanist and geologist, who was later active in Australia. Early life Tate was born at Alnwick in Northumberland, the son of Thomas Turner Tate (1807–1888), a teacher of math ...

from an unpublished description by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 Vict ...

and the description was published in ''Report on the work of the Horn Scientific Expedition to Central Australia''. The

type Type may refer to: Science and technology Computing * Typing, producing text via a keyboard, typewriter, etc. * Data type, collection of values used for computations. * File type * TYPE (DOS command), a command to display contents of a file. * Ty ...

specimens were collected on the "higher slopes of Mount Sonder". In 1976, John Carrick changed the name to ''Wrixonia schultzii'' but in 2012 Trevor Wilson,

Murray Henwood Murray may refer to: Businesses * Murray (bicycle company), an American manufacturer of low-cost bicycles * Murrays, an Australian bus company * Murray International Trust, a Scottish investment trust * D. & W. Murray Limited, an Australian who ...

and

Barry Conn Barry John Conn (Barry Conn, born 1948), is an Australian botanist. He was awarded a Ph.D. from Adelaide University in 1982 for work on ''Prostanthera''. Career Conn's first appointment as a botanist was with the Lae Herbarium in 1974. He ...

changed the name back to ''P. schultzii''.

Distribution and habitat

This mintbush grows in sheltered upper slopes of the Chewings Range in the West MacDonnell National Park of the Northern Territory.

Conservation status

''Prostanthera schultzii'' is classified as "vulnerable" under the Australian Government '' Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999'' and the Northern Territory Government
Territory Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act 1976
'.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q27828738 schultzii Flora of the Northern Territory Lamiales of Australia Taxa named by Ralph Tate Plants described in 1896