Prostanthera lasianthos

Prostanthera lasianthos, the Victorian Christmas-bush or coranderrk, is the largest member of the Australian mint-bush genus Prostanthera in the Lamiaceae, occurring as a tall shrub or small tree 2-10 m high in moist gullies, riparian forests and wet sclerophyll woodlands of southeastern Australia from southern Queensland through New South Wales, Victoria and into Tasmania. Its narrowly lanceolate, opposite leaves are 4-12 cm long and 1-3 cm wide, with finely toothed margins, a glossy dark green upper surface and a strong, sweet, minty fragrance when crushed. From late spring through early summer, around Christmas in Victoria, the plant produces showy terminal panicles of bell-shaped tubular flowers 8-15 mm across; the corolla is white to pale lilac, marked inside the throat with characteristic purple and orange-brown spots, and is enclosed at the base by a small, two-lipped, hairy calyx. The fruit is a dry schizocarp splitting into four small nutlets. Long cultivated as an ornamental, the species is variable and several geographic forms are recognised.