Blotchy mint bush

Description

Prostanthera walteri, commonly known as monkey mint-bush or blotchy mint-bush, is a shrub that is native to south-eastern Australia It has a spreading habit, growing to between 1 and 2 metres high. The leaves are 10 to 30 mm long and 5 to 15 mm wide. Flowers appear in the leaf axils from December to February (summer) in the species native range. They are about 15 to 26 mm long and blue-green or yellow-green with purple veining. The species was formally described in 1870 by Victorian Government Botanist Ferdinand von Mueller in the seventh volume of Fragmenta Phytographiae Australiae, based on plant material collected by Carl Walter at Mount Ellery in East Gippsland. It occurs on granitic soils in forests in south-eastern New South Wales and East Gippsland in Victoria. The name has sometimes been misapplied to Prostanthera monticola.