Spiked mint bush

Description

Prostanthera phylicifolia, commonly known as spiked mint-bush, is a species of plant in the Lamiaceae family. The species was first formally described by Victorian Government Botanist Ferdinand von Mueller in 1858 in Fragmenta Phytographiae Australiae.Plants have a compact or spreading habit, growing to between 0.5 and 2 metres high. The leaves have a rounded apex and cuneate or obtuse base and are 5 to 15 mm long and 1.5 to 4 mm wide, with the edges turned back.Flowers are produced in the leaf axils from October to January (mid spring to mid summer) in the species native range. These are white or pale lilac and have yellow spots on the lower lobe and purple spots inside the throat.The species occurs on hillsides and granite outcrops in heath and woodland in Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria in Australia.Prostanthera 'Poorinda Snow Queen' and 'Poorinda Ballerina', hybrid crosses of P. lasianthos and P. phylicifolia, are cultivated