''Prostanthera sericea'', commonly known as silky mintbush or walyuwalyu, 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 inland Australia. It is an erect shrub with hairy branches, cylindrical leaves and white flowers with mauve or purple streaks.

Description

''Prostanthera sericea'' is an erect shrub that typically grows to a height of with its branches and leaves covered with silvery green or greyish green hairs. The leaves are cylindrical, sometimes with a groove along the lower surface, long and wide and sessile. The flowers are arranged in groups of four to fourteen on the ends of the branches, each flower on a hairy

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 cream-coloured and form a tube long with two lobes, the lower lobe long and the upper lobe long. The petals are long and white with mauve or purple streaks inside the petal tube. The middle lobe of the lower lip is spatula-shaped, long and the side lobes are egg-shaped, long. The upper lip is egg-shaped with the lower end towards the base, long with a central notch deep. Flowering occurs from July to December or March.

Taxonomy

Silky mintbush was first formally described in 1926 by John McConnell Black who gave it the name ''Prostanthera baxteri'' var. ''sericea'' in the ''Flora of South Australia'' from specimens collected near the

Birksgate Range The Birksgate Range is a scattered range of mountains in the northwest of South Australia. It is located on the northeastern edges of the Great Victoria Desert, spreading for about from Iltur in the southeast to Watarru in the northwest. The no ...

during th
Elder expedition of 1891
In 1988,

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 ...

raised the variety to species status as ''Prostanthera sericea'' in the journal '' Nuytsia''.

Distribution and habitat

''Prostanthera sericea'' grows on stony hills, in rocky gorges and on sand dunes and sandplains in the east of Western Australia, southern Northern Territory and western South Australia.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15355212 sericea Flora of New South Wales Lamiales of Australia Plants described in 1926 Taxa named by John McConnell Black