''Prostanthera walteri'', commonly known as blotchy 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 sprawling shrub with tangled, hairy branches, egg-shaped leaves and usually bluish green flowers with prominent purple veins arranged singly in leaf axils.

Description

''Prostanthera walteri'' is a sprawling shrub that typically grows to a height of and has hairy,

glandular In animals, a gland is a group of cells in an animal's body that synthesizes substances (such as hormones) for release into the bloodstream (endocrine gland) or into cavities inside the body or its outer surface (exocrine gland). Structure De ...

, often tangled, wiry branches. The leaves are egg-shaped, mostly long and wide on a petiole long. The lower surface of the leaves is hairy and the upper is grooved and more or less

glabrous Glabrousness (from the Latin ''glaber'' meaning "bald", "hairless", "shaved", "smooth") is the technical term for a lack of hair, down, setae, trichomes or other such covering. A glabrous surface may be a natural characteristic of all or part of ...

. The flowers are arranged singly in leaf axils on a hairy

pedicel Pedicle or pedicel may refer to: Human anatomy *Pedicle of vertebral arch, the segment between the transverse process and the vertebral body, and is often used as a radiographic marker and entry point in vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty procedures ...

long with

bracteoles In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, especially one associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves. They may be smaller, larger, or of ...

long at the base of 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. The sepals are long, forming a tube long with two lobes long. The petals are long, forming a tube long and usually bluish green with prominent purple veins. The lower middle lobe of the tube is long and wide, the side lobes long and wide, the upper lobe is broadly egg-shaped, long and wide with a central notch about deep. Flowering occurs in summer.

Taxonomy and naming

''Prostanthera walteri'' was formally described in 1870 by Victorian Government Botanist

Ferdinand von Mueller Baron Sir Ferdinand Jacob Heinrich von Mueller, (german: Müller; 30 June 1825 – 10 October 1896) was a German-Australian physician, geographer, and most notably, a botanist. He was appointed government botanist for the then colony of Vict ...

in the seventh volume of '' Fragmenta Phytographiae Australiae'', based on plant material collected by

Carl Walter Carl Walter (c. 1831 – 7 October 1907), also known as Charles Walter, was an Australian botanist and photographer. He was born in Mecklenburg, Germany in about 1831 and arrived in Victoria (Australia), Victoria in the 1850s. Botanical work W ...

Mount Ellery Mount Ellery ( Gunai: ''Barumpa''), with an elevation of AMSL, is a mountain that is part of the Errinundra Plateau within the Errinundra National Park, located in the East Gippsland region of the Australian state of Victoria. The mountain is a ...

East Gippsland East Gippsland is the eastern region of Gippsland, Victoria, Australia covering 31,740 square kilometres (14%) of Victoria. It has a population of 80,114. Australian Bureau of Statistics2006 Census Community Profile Series: East Gippsland (Sta ...

. 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 ...

(''walteri'') honours the collector of the type specimens.

Distribution and habitat

Blotchy mint-bush occurs on granitic soils in forests in New South Wales south from

Mount Imlay Mount Imlay is a national park in New South Wales (Australia), 387 km south of Sydney, named after the Imlay brothers, who were early pioneers to the district. It is accessed from the Princes Highway, south of Eden, New South Wales. The ...

to East Gippsland in north-eastern Victoria.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q7250972 walteri Flora of New South Wales Flora of Victoria (state) Lamiales of Australia Taxa named by Ferdinand von Mueller