Prostanthera lasianthos
| Prostanthera lasianthos | |
|---|---|
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Eudicots |
| (unranked): | Asterids |
| Order: | Lamiales |
| Family: | Lamiaceae |
| Genus: | Prostanthera |
| Species: | P. lasianthos |
| Binomial name | |
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Prostanthera lasianthos Labill. |
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Prostanthera lasianthos, commonly known as the Victorian Christmas bush, is a large shrub or small tree of the mint family, Lamiaceae, which is native to Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania in Australia. It grows up to 10 m (35 ft) high but is usually much less and is found in wet sclerophyll forests, often beside creeks. Its flowers, which appear in profuse sprays, are about 2 cm long and white or pale lilac, with purple and orange blotches in the throat. They appear in late spring and summer, and specifically around Christmas time in Victoria. The fragrant, toothed leaves are 4 to 12 cm (sometimes 15 cm ) long and about 1.5 cm wide.
Prostanthera lasianthos is the largest member of the mint bush genus Prostanthera. Highly variable in habit, it ranges from a 10-metre-high (30 ft) tree in sheltered forest to a 2-metre-high (7 ft) shrub in exposed montane areas. Arranged oppositely (arising in pairs) along the stems on 0.6–1 cm long petioles, the dark green ovate leaves are 4 to 12 cm (sometimes 15 cm ) long and about 10-3.2 cm wide with a tapering acute apex. The leaf undersurface is paler. The flowers appear anywhere from November to March, and are arranged in a terminal botryoid, branched-botryoid or panicle. Mauve-flowered shrubs are often encountered at higher altitudes. Having a fragrance akin to honey, the flower is composed of a 4–5 mm long calyx with a 2–3 mm long calyx tube. The white to pale mauve corolla is 10–15 mm long, and has purple spots in its throat.
French naturalist Jacques Labillardière described the Victorian Christmas bush in volume 2 of his Novae Hollandiae Plantarum Specimen in 1806, from a specimen collected in Van Diemens Land (Tasmania). The specific epithet is derived from the Greek words lasios "hairy" and anthos "flower". It is the type species within the genus Prostanthera. It is most closely related to P. tallowa. The mint bush genus belongs to the family Lamiaceae, which also contains the true mint species and other familiar aromatic kitchen herbs.
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Wikipedia