''Prostanthera palustris'', commonly known as swamp mint-bush, is a species of flowering plant in the family

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 ...

and is endemic to a restricted area of New South Wales. It is a low, spreading, weak shrub with spatula-shaped leaves and pale mauve and white flowers with yellow spots in the petal tube.

Description

''Prostanthera palustris'' is a low, spreading, weak shrub that typically grows to a height of , is not aromatic, and has branches with two longitudinal ridges. The leaves are dull green above, paler below, spatula-shaped, long and wide on a petiole about long. The flowers are arranged in groups of four to ten in upper leaf axils on

pedicels In botany, a pedicel is a stem that attaches a single flower to the inflorescence. Such inflorescences are described as ''pedicellate''. Description Pedicel refers to a structure connecting a single flower to its inflorescence. In the absenc ...

long. The sepals are light green and form a tube long with two lobes, the lower lobe long and the upper lobe long. The petals are pale mauve and white with yellow dots inside, long forming a tube long with two lips. The central lobe of the lower lip is long and wide and the side lobes are about long and wide. The upper lip is about long and wide. Flowering mainly occurs from February to June.

Taxonomy

''Prostanthera palustris'' was first formally described in 1997 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 ...

in the journal '' Telopea'' from material collected in

Bundjalung National Park The Bundjalung National Park is a national park located on the north coast of New South Wales, Australia, north-east of Sydney. It protects an area of coastal plain, heathland and solitary beaches between the towns of Iluka and Evans Hea ...

in 1990.

Distribution and habitat

Swamp mint-bush grows in wet coastal shrubland and heathland in the Jerusalem Creek area of Bundjalung National Park.

Conservation status

This mintbush is classified as "vulnerable" under the Australian Government '' Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999'' and the New South Wales Government '' Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016''. The main threats to the species include inappropriate fire regimes, trampling and vegetation clearance.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15355114 palustris Flora of New South Wales Lamiales of Australia Plants described in 1997 Taxa named by Barry John Conn