''Prostanthera aspalathoides'', commonly known as scarlet mint-bush, is a species of flowering plant that is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to south-eastern Australia. It is a small shrub with hairy branches, cylindrical or linear to elliptic or oblong leaves and red, pinkish red, or orange flowers arranged singly in leaf axils.

Description

''Prostanthera aspalathoides'' is a compact, upright shrub that typically grows to a height of and has densely hairy, glandular branchlets. The aromatic leaves are cylindrical to linear-elliptic in shape, long, wide and

sessile Sessility, or sessile, may refer to: * Sessility (motility), organisms which are not able to move about * Sessility (botany), flowers or leaves that grow directly from the stem or peduncle of a plant * Sessility (medicine), tumors and polyps that ...

or on a petiole up to long. The flowers are arranged singly in leaf axils with bracteoles long at the base. The

sepal A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 The term ''sepalum'' was coined b ...

s are long and joined at the base to form a tube long. The petals are long forming a red, pinkish red, orange or rarely yellow tube long. Flowering mainly occurs in spring but flowers may be present in most months.

Taxonomy and naming

''Prostanthera aspalathoides'' was first formally described in 1834 by George Bentham in his book ''Labiatarum genera et species'', from an unpublished description by Allan Cunningham who collected the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 near the Lachlan River. The specific epithet alludes to a similarity to plants of the genus '' Aspalathus''.

Distribution and habitat

Scarlet mint bush grows in mallee and occurs in New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia. It is found west from the Rankins Springs district in New South Wales, in the northern half of Victoria and in the south-east of South Australia, including the Yorke and

Eyre Peninsula The Eyre Peninsula is a triangular peninsula in South Australia. It is bounded by the Spencer Gulf on the east, the Great Australian Bight on the west, and the Gawler Ranges to the north. Originally called Eyre’s Peninsula, it was named aft ...

s and Kangaroo Island.

Uses

Use in horticulture

''Prosthanthera aspalthioides'' is best adapted to cultivation in dry conditions with low humidity. Plants prefer a position in full sun or partial shade with good drainage and withstand moderate frost. Cuttings are the preferred propagation method, as seed germinates slowly. Plants may also be grafted on roostocks of the hardier species''

Prostanthera nivea ''Prostanthera nivea'', commonly known as snowy mint-bush, is a species of flowering plant in the family Lamiaceae and is Endemism, endemic to eastern Australia. It is a shrub with linear to cylindrical leaves and white flowers arranged in leaf ...

''.

Fragrant oil

Tests to extract cineole (also known as eucalyptol), a fragrant oil found in ''Prostanthera'' were conducted over 100 years ago by

Joseph Bosisto Joseph Bosisto CMG, MLA JP (21 March 1827 – 8 November 1898), was a chemist and politician in colonial Victoria, Australia. Background Bosisto was the son of William Bosisto and Maria née Lazenby, of Cookham, Berkshire, and was born on 21 M ...

an industrial chemist and oil distiller. Later tests on ''Prostanthera aspalathoides'' produced an oil yield of 2-3%.

References

External links

Occurrence data from Australasian Virtual Herbarium for ''Prostanthera aspalathoides''.
{{Taxonbar, from=Q7250952 aspalathoides Flora of New South Wales Flora of South Australia Flora of Victoria (state) Lamiales of Australia Plants described in 1834 Taxa named by Allan Cunningham (botanist)