# Prostanthera incisa > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Prostanthera_incisa > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Prostanthera_incisa.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prostanthera_incisa > Source revision: 1316869664 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Species of flowering plant}} {{Speciesbox |name = Cut-leaved mint-bush |image = Prostanthera incisa 2.jpg |image_caption = Near [Bega](/source/Bega%2C_New_South_Wales) |genus = Prostanthera |species = incisa |authority = [R.Br.](/source/Robert_Brown_(botanist%2C_born_1773)){{cite web |title=''Prostanthera incisa'' |url=https://biodiversity.org.au/nsl/services/apc-format/display/109975 |website=Australian Plant Census |access-date=3 September 2020}} |range_map = Prostanthera incisaDistA45.png |range_map_caption = Occurrence data from [AVH](/source/Australasian_Virtual_Herbarium) |synonyms_ref = | synonyms = {{collapsible list | * ''Prostanthera incisa'' [Benth.](/source/Benth.) nom. inval., pro syn. * ''Prostanthera incisa'' R.Br. var. ''incisa'' * ''Prostanthera incisa var. pubescens'' [F.Muell.](/source/F.Muell.) ex Benth. * ''Prostanthera incisa var. sieberi'' (Benth.) [C.Moore](/source/C.Moore) & [Betche](/source/Ernst_Betche) * ''Prostanthera sieberi'' Benth. * ''Prostanthera'' sp. aff. ''melissifolia'' * ''Prostanthera violacea'' auct. non R.Br.: Ewart, A.J. (1931) * ''Prostanthera violacea'' var. ''albiflora'' auct. non Benth.: Ewart, A.J. (1931) }} }} '''''Prostanthera incisa''''', commonly known as '''cut-leaf mint-bush'''{{cite web |last1=Conn |first1=Barry J. |title=''Prostanthera incisa'' |url=https://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Prostanthera~incisa |publisher=Royal Botanic Garden Sydney}} or '''native thyme''', is a species of flowering plant in the family [Lamiaceae](/source/Lamiaceae) and is [endemic](/source/Endemism) to south-eastern continental Australia. It is an erect, strongly aromatic, openly branched shrub with hairy, densely [glandular](/source/Gland_(botany)) branches, egg-shaped to oblong leaves, and pale mauve to mauve flowers. ==Description== ''Prostanthera incisa'' is an erect, openly-branched shrub that typically grows to a height of {{cvt|0.5–3|m}} and {{cvt|2–3|m}} wide. It is a "strongly and rather unpleasantly"{{cite web |last1=Conn |first1=Barry J. |title=''Prostanthera incisa'' |url=https://vicflora.rbg.vic.gov.au/flora/taxon/6c06fcef-2c39-481c-b76c-1c487c67c4a5 |publisher=Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria |access-date=3 September 2020}} aromatic shrub or has a "pleasing aroma emanating from the sensitive leaf glands" according to [George Althofer](/source/George_Althofer).{{cite book |last1=Althofer |first1=George |title=Cradle of Incense |date=1978 |publisher=The Society for Growing Australian Plants |isbn=0909830134 |page=71}} The shrub has ridged, hairy, densely glandular branches. The leaves are hairy, densely glandular, egg-shaped to oblong, paler on the lower surface, {{cvt|8–30|mm}} long and {{cvt|4–12|mm}} wide on a [petiole](/source/Petiole_(botany)) {{cvt|1–10|mm}} long. The edges of the leaves are coarsely toothed and the tip is rounded. The flowers are arranged in bunches near the end of the branches with [bracteoles](/source/Bract) about {{cvt|1|mm}} long but that fall off as the flower develops. The [sepal](/source/sepal)s are {{cvt|3–4.5|mm}} long, forming a tube about {{cvt|2|mm}} long with two lobes, the upper lobe about {{cvt|2|mm}} long. The petals are pale mauve to mauve and {{cvt|7–10|mm}} long. ==Taxonomy== ''Prostanthera incisa'' was first formally described in 1810 by [Robert Brown](/source/Robert_Brown_(botanist%2C_born_1773)) in his book ''[Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van Diemen](/source/Prodromus_Florae_Novae_Hollandiae_et_Insulae_Van_Diemen)'', and it still bears its original name.{{cite web |title=''Prostanthera incisa'' |url=https://id.biodiversity.org.au/instance/apni/541665 |website=Australian Plant Name Index |access-date=3 September 2020}}{{cite book |last1=Brown |first1=Robert |title=Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van Dieman |date=1810 |publisher=typis R. Taylor et socii,1810 |location=London |page=509 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/21871#page/377/mode/1up |access-date=3 September 2020}} ==Distribution and habitat== Cut-leaved mint-bush is found along the New South Wales coastline from [Mount Warning](/source/Mount_Warning) near the Queensland border all the way to Victoria, as well as on the [Central Tablelands](/source/Central_Tablelands) of New South Wales. It is found in sheltered sites in rainforest margins or sclerophyll forest under such trees as Sydney blue gum (''[Eucalyptus saligna](/source/Eucalyptus_saligna)''), cabbage gum (''[E. amplifolia](/source/Eucalyptus_amplifolia)''), Sydney peppermint (''[E. piperita](/source/Eucalyptus_piperita)''), red bloodwood (''[Corymbia gummifera](/source/Corymbia_gummifera)'') or turpentine (''[Syncarpia glomulifera](/source/Syncarpia_glomulifera)''). It can also occur in scrub along watercourses in association with river she-oak (''[Casuarina cunninghamiana](/source/Casuarina_cunninghamiana)'').{{cite journal |last1=Benson |first1=Doug |last2=McDougall |first2=Lyn |title=Ecology of Sydney Plant Species, Part 5 - Dicotyledon families Flacourtiaceae to Myrsinaceae |journal=Cunninghamia |date=1997 |volume=5 |issue=2 |page=426 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/58500872#page/146/mode/1up |access-date=3 September 2020}} ==Use in horticulture== First grown in England in 1824, ''P. incisa'' var. ''incisa'' is cultivated on a small-scale commercial basis for essential oil production and for bushfood spice. ''P. incisa'' prefers sheltered sites in well-drained acidic soils,{{cite book |author1=Elliot, Rodger W. |author2=Jones, David L. |author3=Blake, Trevor |title=Encyclopaedia of Australian Plants Suitable for Cultivation: Volume 7 – N-Po |year=1997 |publisher= Lothian Press |location= Port Melbourne | page=26; 221 |isbn=0-85091-634-8}} and in poorly drained soils it can be susceptible to root-rot. It has reasonable frost tolerance down to −5 °. It is a fast-growing shrub, and consequently can be harvested within the first year. When pruned back to a height of 50 cm it reshoots readily. Propagation is by seed or cutting material of firm young growth. ==References== {{Reflist}} ==External links== *{{cite web |title=''Prostanthera incisa'' R.Br. — Cut-Leaved Mint-Bush |publisher=Atlas of Living Australia |url=https://bie.ala.org.au/species/https://id.biodiversity.org.au/node/apni/2902306}} {{Taxonbar|from=Q7250962}} incisa Category:Lamiales of Australia Category:Flora of New South Wales Category:Flora of Victoria (state) Category:Plants described in 1810 Category:Taxa named by Robert Brown (botanist, born 1773) --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Prostanthera incisa](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prostanthera_incisa) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prostanthera_incisa?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.