''Prostanthera scutata'' 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, erect, compact shrub with densely hairy branches, elliptic to narrow elliptic leaves and pale blue or faintly violet flowers.

Description

''Prostanthera magnifica'' is an erect, compact shrub that typically grows to a height of and has densely hairy branches. The leaves are elliptic to narrow elliptic, long and wide on a petiole long. The flowers are arranged in bunches of six to twenty 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 dark greyish green, forming a tube long with two egg-shaped to broadly egg-shaped lobes, the lower lobe long and wide, the upper lobe long and wide. The petals are pale blue to faintly violet, long forming a tube long with two lips. The central lobe of the lower lip is long and wide and the side lobes long and wide. The upper lip is long and wide with a central notch deep. Flowering occurs in October, December or January.

Taxonomy

''Prostanthera scutata'' was first formally described in 1964 by

Charles Austin Gardner Charles Austin Gardner (6 January 1896 – 24 February 1970) was an English-born Western Australian botanist. Biography Born in Lancaster, in England, on 6 January 1896, Gardner emigrated to Western Australia with his family in 1909, whe ...

in the ''

Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia The Royal Society of Western Australia (RSWA) promotes science in Western Australia. The RSWA was founded in 1914. It publishes the ''Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia'', and has awarded the Medal of the Royal Society of Western ...

'' from specimens he collected near the Hutt River.

Distribution and habitat

This mintbush grows in gravelly soil in the Avon Wheatbelt and Geraldton Sandplains

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 ...

of Western Australia.

Conservation status

This mintbush is classified as " Priority Two" by the Western Australian Government

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 e ...

meaning that it is poorly known and from only one or a few locations.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15355649 scutata Eudicots of Western Australia Lamiales of Australia Plants described in 1942 Taxa named by Charles Gardner