''Prostanthera junonis'', commonly known as Somersby mintbush, 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 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 the Central Coast of New South Wales. It is a low, straggling shrub with hairy, egg-shaped leaves and purple to mauve flowers.

Description

''Prostanthera junonis'' is a low, straggling, almost prostrate shrub that typically grows to a height of , is not aromatic, and has branches covered with long hairs. The leaves are dull green above, paler below, narrow egg-shaped to narrow elliptical, often appearing triangular to linear when the edges are turned downwards, long and wide on a petiole about long. The flowers are arranged in groups of four to fourteen upper leaf axils on the branchlets on a

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. 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 with a maroon tinge, long, forming a tube long with two lobes long. The sepals are usually slightly hairy and enlarge slightly by the fruiting stage. The petals are pale purple to mauve or almost white and long with two lips. The central lobe of the lower lip is spatula-shaped, long and wide and the side lobes are long and wide. The upper lip is long and wide with two lobes. Flowering mainly occurs from October to February.

Taxonomy

''Prostanthera junonis'' 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 near Somersby in 1993. The

Binomial nomenclature 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 ...

(''junonis'') honours Mrs June Gay.

Distribution and habitat

Somersby mintbush grows in

sclerophyll forest Sclerophyll is a type of vegetation that is adapted to long periods of dryness and heat. The plants feature hard leaves, short internodes (the distance between leaves along the stem) and leaf orientation which is parallel or oblique to direct ...

and woodland in sandy loamy soils on sandstone, in the Mangrove Mountain and Sydney districts on the Central Coast of New South Wales.

Conservation status

This mintbush is classified as "endangered" under the Australian Government '' Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999'' and the New South Wales Government '' Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016'' and a recovery plant has been prepared. The main threats to the species include habitat loss and degradation due to agriculture, hazard reduction burns, weed invasion, and stormwater runoff.

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q15355174 junonis Flora of New South Wales Lamiales of Australia Plants described in 1997 Taxa named by Barry John Conn