''Prostanthera mulliganensis'', commonly known as Mount Mulligan prostanthera, 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 ...

Mount Mulligan Mount Mulligan is a former mining town and now a rural locality in the Shire of Mareeba, Queensland, Australia. In the Mount Mulligan had a population of 4 people. It is the site of the Mount Mulligan mine disaster, Queensland's worst mining ...

in Queensland. It is a small shrub with hairy branchlets, oblong to egg-shaped leaves and mauve flowers with purple to dark mauve markings.

Description

''Prostanthera mulliganensis'' is a shrub that typically grows to a height of with hairy branches. The leaves are dull green, oblong to egg-shaped with the narrower end towards the base, long and wide on a petiole long. The flowers are arranged in groups of two to four near the ends of branchlets, each flower on a stalk long. 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 green, densely hairy and form a tube long with two lobes, the upper lobe long and the lower lobe long. The petals are mauve with purple to dark mauve markings and long, forming a tube long with two lips. The central lower lobe is long and the side lobes are about long. The upper lip is broadly oblong, long and wide with a small central notch.

Taxonomy

''Prostanthera mulliganensis'' was first formally described in 2015 by

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 ...

and Trevor Wilson in the journal '' Telopea'', based on plant material collected on the summit of Mount Mulligan.

Distribution and habitat

Mount Mulligan prostanthera is only known from Mount Mulligan where it grows in soil derived from sandstone and on sheer cliff faces.

Conservation status

This mintbush is classified as "critically endangered" under the Queensland Government ''

Nature Conservation Act 1992 The ''Nature Conservation Act 1992'' is an act of the Parliament of Queensland, Australia, that, together with subordinate legislation, provides for the legislative protection of Queensland's threatened biota. As originally published, it prov ...

''.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q65946291 mulliganensis Flora of Queensland Lamiales of Australia Plants described in 2015 Taxa named by Barry John Conn Endemic flora of Queensland