Species
Veronica bollonsii
Etymology
Veronica: Named after Saint Veronica, who gave Jesus her veil to wipe his brow as he carried the cross through Jerusalem, perhaps because the common name of this plant is 'speedwell'. The name Veronica is often believed to derive from the Latin vera 'truth' and iconica 'image', but it is actually derived from the Macedonian name Berenice which means 'bearer of victory'.
bollonsii: Named in honour of Captain John P. Bollon (1862-1929)
Common Name(s)
Hebe
Current Conservation Status
2012 - At Risk - Naturally Uncommon
Conservation status of New Zealand indigenous vascular plants, 2012
The conservation status of all known New Zealand vascular plant taxa at the rank of species and below were reassessed in 2012 using the New Zealand Threat Classification System (NZTCS). This report includes a statistical summary and brief notes on changes since 2009 and replaces all previous NZTCS lists for vascular plants. Authors: Peter J. de Lange, Jeremy R. Rolfe, Paul D. Champion, Shannel P. Courtney, Peter B. Heenan, John W. Barkla, Ewen K. Cameron, David A. Norton and Rodney A. Hitchmough. File size: 792KB
Previous Conservation Status
2009 - At Risk - Naturally Uncommon
2004 - Range Restricted
Qualifiers
2012 - RR
Authority
Veronica bollonsii Cockayne
Family
Plantaginaceae
Brief Description
Bushy shrub bearing pairs of dark green oval pointed leaves inhabiting coastal sites in eastern Northland and offshore islands. Leaves 20-95mm long by 15-31mm wide. Leaf bud with gap at base. Twigs green. Flowers tinged pink becoming white with age, in short spikes, to 15cm long.
Flora Category
Vascular - Native
Structural Class
Dicotyledonous Trees & Shrubs
Synonyms
Hebe bollonsii (Cockayne) Cockayne
Distribution
Endemic. North Island, outer Hauraki Gulf where it is mainly found on the Poor Knights and Hen & Chicken Island groups. Also local on rock stacks and headlands from Tutukaka north to about Mimiwhangata.
Habitat
Petrel scrub, low wind shorn shrubland and open coastal forest or on rock stacks. On the Poor Knights and Hen & Chicken Islands it is often in low wind shorn petrel scrub on exposed shore platforms or on slip scars or in wind damaged coastal forest. Frequent on rocky headlands and sometimes on rock stacks.
Features
Heavily branched, rather bushy shrub 2 x 3 m. Branches numerous, erect, old stems grey to grey-brown; branchlets green, minutely puberulent, glabrate; internodes 1-45 mm; leaf decurrencies evident. Leaf bud with sinus. Leaves erect to patent; lamina 14-130 x 8-42 mm, upper surface dark green, usually glossy, hairy along midrib, undersides light green dull or glossy oblanceolate, obovate to oblong or elliptic, coriaceous, more or less flat, apex shortly apiculate, subacute to obtuse, secondary veination evident in young leaves; margin narrowly cartilaginous, glabrous or minutely ciliate. Inflorescences lateral, unbranched racemes, 35-150 mm long, bearing 24-125 flowers; peduncle 6-30 mm, rachis 27-126 mm. Bracts alternate or lowermost pair opposite, then subopposite or alternate above, lanceolate to linear-lanceolate or ovate, acute. Flowers on pedicels 1-7 mm long. Calyx 2.5-5.5 mm; lobes lanceolate, acute, rarely sparsely hairy on the outside. Corolla tube 3-5 x 1.9-2.5 mm, funnelform, hairy inside and often outside (near where lobes diverge); lobes equalling or longer than corolla tube, tinged very pale mauve at anthesis soon fading to white, lanceolate or narrowly elliptic, subacute, anterior lobe obtuse; patent to recurved. Stamen filaments 3.8-7 mm; anthers 2-2.7 mm, mauve or purple. Ovary 0.6-1.2 mm; style 5.5-8.5 mm. Capsules 2.5-5.5 x 1.8-4 mm. subacute. Seeds 1-1.7 x 0.9-1.3 mm, straw-yellow, broad-ellipsoid, more or less winged, flattened.
Similar Taxa
Most similar to Veronica pubescens subsp. sejuncta from which it differs by its glabrescent to minutely puberulent stems and foliage, consistent lack of a leaf bud sinus, usually much broader leaves, and uniformly lighter coloured flowers - V. bollonsii never has the deep violet or dark mauve flower colours occasionally seen in V. pubescens subsp. sejuncta.
Flowering
September - February (often sporadic throughout the year)
Flower Colours
Violet / Purple,White
Fruiting
Present throughout the year
Propagation Technique
Easy from semi-hard wood cuttings and fresh seed. A spectacular shrub which deserves to be more widely grown. It is extremely floriferous. Plants respond well to a very hard pruning immediately after flowering - cut back by at least a third - and do best in full sun, in a free draining, fertile soil.
Threats
A naturally uncommon, range restricted species virtually confined to offshore islands where it is under no obvious threats.
Chromosome No.
2n = 40
Endemic Taxon
Yes
Endemic Genus
No
Endemic Family
No
Life Cycle and Dispersal
Seeds are wind dispersed (Thorsen et al., 2009).
Taxanomic notes
It has been reported from Ponui Island in the southern Hauraki Gulf e.g., Metcalf (2006). That record is erroneous being based on a plant collected wild from Ponui by Scott Lowry in 1993 and first cultivated at Percy Reserve, Petone in that year before general distribution. That plant, which is vegetatively somewhat similar to Veronica bollonsii (though it has a leaf bud sinus) is a hybrid cultivar involving H. speciosa and possibly V. bollonsii which was planted on that island as part of a revegetation project (David Chamberlin pers. comm., 2005). It is is not Veronica bollonsii.
Attribution
Fact sheet prepared for NZPCN by P.J. de Lange 1 October 2006. Description based on Bayly & Kellow (2006).
References and further reading
Bayly, M.J.; Kellow, A.V. Hebes, identification, classification and biology. Wellington, Te Papa Press
Metcalf, L. 2006. Hebes - a guide to species, hybrids, and allied genera. Portland, Oregon, Timber Press.
Thorsen, M. J.; Dickinson, K. J. M.; Seddon, P. J. 2009. Seed dispersal systems in the New Zealand flora. Perspectives in Plant Ecology, Evolution and Systematics 11: 285-309
This page last updated on 6 Mar 2016