''Mentha diemenica'', commonly known as slender mint, is a flowering plant in the

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 ...

family. It grows in the Northern Territory, Australian Capital Territory and all mainland states except Western Australia. It has mint-scented foliage and clusters of purple flowers.

Description

''Mentha diemenica'' is a small, prostrate, perennial herb with underground spreading stems and leafy, erect, ascending branches to high. The branches are covered with occasional to thickly recurved hairs. The leaves are arranged in opposite pairs, aromatic, mostly oval-shaped, long, wide, lower surface has short, upright, scattered hairs, margins entire or sparsely toothed, apex rounded or almost pointed and the petiole long. The purple or rarely white flowers are usually borne in clusters of 3-8 at the end of branches in the leaf axil, lobes pointed or widely pointed, outer surface thickly covered with short hairs and long hairs on the margin. The

corolla Corolla may refer to: *Corolla (botany), the petals of a flower, considered as a unit *Toyota Corolla, an automobile model name * Corolla (headgear), an ancient headdress in the form of a circlet or crown * ''Corolla'' (gastropod), a genus of moll ...

is long with four petals extending beyond the ribbed

calyx Calyx or calyce (plural "calyces"), from the Latin ''calix'' which itself comes from the Ancient Greek ''κάλυξ'' (''kálux'') meaning "husk" or "pod", may refer to: Biology * Calyx (anatomy), collective name for several cup-like structures ...

tube that is covered in spreading hairs. Flowering occurs from late spring to summer and the fruit is a

mericarp A schizocarp is a dry fruit that, when mature, splits up into mericarps. There are different definitions: * Any dry fruit composed of multiple carpels that separate. : Under this definition the mericarps can contain one or more seeds (the m ...

, obovoid-shaped, dry, segmented and about long.

Taxonomy and naming

''Mentha diemenica'' was first formally described in 1825 by

Carl Sprengel Karl or Philipp Carl Sprengel (March 29, 1787 – April 19, 1859) was a German botanist from Schillerslage (now part of Burgdorf, Hanover). Sprengel worked under Albrecht Thaer (1752–1828) in Celle. He then worked from 1804 to 1808 with ...

and the description was published in ''

Systema Vegetabilium ''Systema Vegetabilium'' (abbreviated as Syst. Veg.) is a book published in four editions, following twelve earlier editions known as '' Systema Naturae''. The first edition, published in 1774 and edited by Johan Andreas Murray is counted as editi ...

''.The

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

(''diemenica'') is in reference to Van Diemen's Land the former name of Tasmania.

Distribution and habitat

Slender mint grows in damp locations, clay to sandy soils in montane woodland and grassland. It is found in all states of Australia with the exception of Western Australia.

References

diemenica Endemic flora of Australia Plants described in 1825 {{Lamiaceae-stub

Description

Taxonomy and naming

Distribution and habitat

See also

References