''Prostanthera oleoides'' 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 central Queensland. It is an open, erect shrub with four-sided branchlets, narrow elliptic, oblong or egg-shaped leaves with the narrower end towards the base, and mauve flowers with purple to dark mauve markings.

Description

''Prostanthera oleoides'' is an open, erect shrub that typically grows to a height of with four-sided branchlets. The leaves are dark green above, paler below, narrow elliptic, oblong or egg-shaped leaves with the narrower end towards the base, long and wide on a petiole long. The flowers are arranged in leafy groups of eight to fourteen 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 greenish red, forming 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 long. The upper lip is egg-shaped, long and wide with a central notch.

Taxonomy

''Prostanthera oleoides'' was first formally described in 2015 by Trevor Wilson and

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 ...

in the journal '' Telopea'', based on material collected in the Blackdown Tableland National Park.

Distribution and habitat

This prostanthera occurs on the central Queensland sandstone belt in the Blackdown Tableland, Expedition and

Chesterton Range National Park Chesterton Range is a national park in South West Queensland, Australia, 585 km west of Brisbane. It is located north east of Morven in both the locality of Redford in the Maranoa Region and in Tyrconnel in the Shire of Murweh. It lies in ...

s where it grows in soil derived from sandstone, on and below sandstone escarpments.

Conservation status

This mintbush is classified as of "least concern" 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=Q65946294 oleoides Flora of Queensland Lamiales of Australia Plants described in 2015 Taxa named by Barry John Conn