Appearance
''Prostanthera lasianthos'' is the largest member of the mint bush genus ''Prostanthera''. Highly variable in habit, it ranges from a 10-metre-high tree in sheltered forest to a 2-metre-high shrub in exposed montane areas.Arranged oppositely along the stems on 0.6–1 cm long petioles, the dark green lanceolate to ovate leaves are 4 to 12 cm long and about 1.0-3.2 cm wide and taper to an acute apex.
The leaf undersurface is paler. The flowers appear anywhere from November to March, and are arranged in a terminal botryoid, branched-botryoid or panicle. Mauve-flowered shrubs are often encountered at higher altitudes. Only the brown dried bracts at the flower base persist after fruiting. During dry periods this species may wilt, with the leaves rolling in to form loose tubes, reviving rapidly to erect, open leaves after rain.
Having a fragrance akin to honey, the flower is composed of a 4–5 mm long calyx with a 2–3 mm long calyx tube. The white to pale mauve corolla is 10–15 mm long, and has purple spots in its throat.
Distribution
''P. lasianthos'' is found from Queensland to Tasmania. It occurs in a wide range of habitat, from riparian habitats in wet forest to dry subalpine areas. In the Central Coast and Central Tablelands regions of New South Wales it grows in rainforest with such species as yellow sassafras and coachwood, in wet sclerophyll forest with cedar wattle, brown barrel, and in dry sclerophyll forest with such species as forest red gum and river oak.References:
Some text fragments are auto parsed from Wikipedia.
