Rank Species | Genus Prostanthera Higher classification Prostanthera | |
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Similar Prostanthera, Prostanthera ovalifolia, Prostanthera rotundifolia, Lamiaceae, Prostanthera lasianthos | ||
Prostanthera cuneata (alpine mint bush or rough mint bush) is a species of flowering plant in the family Lamiaceae, native to south-eastern Australia. It is a bushy evergreen shrub with a compact habit, growing to 90 cm (35 in) both in height and width. The leaves have a rounded apex and cuneate base and are 4 to 5 mm long and 3 to 3.5 mm wide. The leaves are strongly aromatic when crushed. Flowers are produced from November to April (mid-spring to mid-autumn) in the species' native range. These are solitary and axillary, and clustered toward the end of the stems. They are 10–15 cm (4–6 in) long, and white with multiple purple to red coloured spots in the throat.
The specific epithet cuneata means "wedge-shaped".
The species was first formally described by botanist George Bentham in 1848 in Prodromus Systematis Naturalis Regni Vegetabilis. It occurs in alpine and subalpine closed heath and shrubland in granite-based soils in New South Wales and Victoria, often in association with snow gums (Eucalyptus pauciflora). In Tasmania, the species is listed as "presumed to be extinct" under the state's Threatened Species Protection Act 1995.
In cultivation this plant has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit. It has an RHS hardiness rating of H3 (half hardy) and is suited to USDA hardiness zones 8 to 9.
