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Prostanthera megacalyx

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Prostanthera megacalyx
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Lamiales
Family: Lamiaceae
Genus: Prostanthera
Species:
P. megacalyx
Binomial name
Prostanthera megacalyx

Prostanthera megacalyx is a species of flowering plant in the family Lamiaceae and is endemic to Queensland. It is a small shrub with pale green leaves and mauve flowers.

Description

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Prostanthera megacalyx is a small, stiff, rounded shrub up to 1 m (3 ft 3 in) high with wavy, light green, ovate to nearly disc-shaped leaves. The branchlets and new growth covered with short, pale, stiff glandular hairs. The leaves densely dotted with glands, leathery, almost irregularly disc-shaped, 3–6 mm (0.12–0.24 in) long, 2–4 mm (0.079–0.157 in) wide and tapering to a 1–2 mm (0.039–0.079 in) long petiole. The large mauve to lavender coloured flowers have a prominent calyx and borne singly in upper leaf axils on a pedicel about 1 mm (0.039 in) long. The calyx dotted with small glands at irregular intervals. The corolla violet to purple with soft, short somewhat scattered hairs, floral tube about 1 cm (0.39 in) long with short, purple streaks inside, upper petal broadly egg-shaped, 1.5 cm (0.59 in) long, 1 cm (0.39 in) wide, lower petal about half the size. The upper petal has two short lobes, lower lip deeply lobed and middle lobe rounded, 5 mm (0.20 in) long and 3 mm (0.12 in) wide.[2][3]

Taxonomy and naming

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Prostanthera megacalyx was first formally described in 1926 by Cyril Tenison White and William Douglas Francis and the description was published in Proceedings of the Royal Society of Queensland.[3][4] The specific epithet (megacalyx) means "large calyx".[5]

Distribution and habitat

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This prostanthera grows in barren, dry, rocky sites at Grey Range, Ambethala Range, Eulo and Yowah in Queensland.[2]

References

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  1. ^ "Prostanthera megacalyx". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 16 March 2021.
  2. ^ a b Althofer, George W. (1978). Cradle of Incense. Stanley Smith Memorial Publication Fund. p. 178. ISBN 0909830134.
  3. ^ a b White, Cyril; Francis, William (1926). "Prostanthera megacalyx". Proceedings of the Royal Society of Queensland. 37: 163. Retrieved 20 March 2021.
  4. ^ "Prostanthera megacalyx". Australian Plant Name Index. Retrieved 20 March 2021.
  5. ^ Sharr, Francis Aubi; George, Alex (2019). Western Australian Plant Names and Their Meanings (3rd ed.). Kardinya, WA: Four Gables Press. p. 163. ISBN 9780958034180.