Prostanthera incana
Prostanthera incana, commonly known as velvet mint-bush, is a species of flowering plant in the family Lamiaceae and is endemic to south-eastern continental Australia. It is an erect, moderately dense shrub with egg-shaped leaves, and lilac-coloured flowers, found mostly in near-coastal southern New South Wales.Description
Prostanthera incana is an erect, moderately dense shrub that typically grows to a height of and has hairy branchlets. The leaves are hairy, dull green above, paler below, egg-shaped with wavy edges, long and wide on a petiole long. The flowers are arranged in bunches near the ends of branchlets with bracteoles about long at the base. The sepals are long and form a tube long with two lobes, the upper lobe long. The petals are lilac-coloured and long. Flowering occurs from August to December.Taxonomy
Prostanthera incana was first formally described in 1834 by George Bentham from an unpublished description by Allan [Cunningham (botanist)|Alan Cunningham], based on specimens collected by Charles Fraser in the Blue Mountains, [New South Wales|Blue Mountains] and by Cunningham near the junction of the Nepean and Warragamba Rivers. The description was published in Bentham's book, Labiatarum Genera et Species.Distribution and habitat
Velvet mint-bush grows in forest and woodland in shallow sandy soil in near-coastal New South Wales, south from Craven in the Hunter Valley. There is also a small population near Dargo in Victoria.