The New Zealand Plant Conservation Network

Species

Veronica cryptomorpha

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'.

Common Name(s)

Hebe

Current Conservation Status

2012 - Not Threatened

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 - Not Threatened
2004 - Not Threatened

Authority

Veronica cryptomorpha (Bayly, Kellow, G.Harper et Garn.-Jones) Garn.-Jones

Family

Plantaginaceae

Brief Description

Bushy rounded shrub bearing pairs of oval leaves that are paler underneath inhabiting mountains near the Wairau River in Marlborough. Twigs and upper surface of central vein finely hairy (lens needed). Leaf bud with small gap between base of leaves. Flower spike not branched, to 4cm long.

Flora Category

Vascular - Native

NVS Species Code

HEBCRY

Structural Class

Dicotyledonous Trees & Shrubs

Synonyms

Hebe cryptomorpha Bayly, Kellow, G.Harper et Garn.-Jones

Distribution

Endemic. New Zealand: South Island (Marlborough and Nelson, primarily on mountains of the Wairau River catchment)

Habitat

Subalpine shrubland and tussock grassland, usually in shallow mountain soils or on rock strewn ground, rubble slopes, on rock outcrops or cliff faces within river gorges and ravines.

Features

Shrub or rounded shrub, to 1.2 m tall. Branches erect; old stems light to very dark brown, or red-brown (chocolate); youngest branchlets brown (usually), or green; internodes 1-10 mm long; stem pubescence bifarious, eglandular. Leaf bud about as long as mature leaves; sinus broad and acute. Leaves decussate, erecto-patent to patent; lamina oblanceolate, lanceolate or elliptic, fleshy or slightly thin, 7–33 × 3–9 mm; apex acute or subacute; base cuneate; evident venation in fresh leaves consisting of midrib only; midrib thickened beneath and depressed to grooved above; margin not thickened, rounded (or squarish), minutely papillate, mostly entire; upper surface green, dull or slightly glossy, hairy along midrib; lower surface light green or glaucous or glaucescent, dull, with many stomata. Petiole 1–6 mm long, hairy above (along midrib). Inflorescences with 5–17 flowers, lateral, racemose and mostly unbranched, 12–37 mm long, = to > subtending leaves; peduncle 2–1.3 mm long, pubescent; rachis 8–31 mm long; bracts almost always opposite and decussate, free (usually) or connate (sometimes very shortly, especially near base of inflorescence), acute, subacute or obtuse, ciliolate, lanceolate or ovate or deltoid; pedicels < or << bracts or absent (can vary on one plant), pubescent, suberect at anthesis, suberect to erecto-patent at fruiting, 0.5–5.0 mm long. Flowers on individual plants either hermaphrodite or female. Calyx 2.4–3.5 mm long, 3–4-lobed, divisions mostly subequally deep or with anterior lobes united to 1/3 to whole (or almost whole) way to apex; lobes lanceolate to elliptic, subacute, obtuse or acute, ciliate, margins narrowly membranous. Corolla white; tube glabrous, 1.5–3.0 × 2.0–3.0 mm wide, shortly cylindric, = or slightly longer than calyx; lobes > corolla tube, glabrous; ovate to elliptic, obtuse, patent to recurved, with margin and apex flat; corolla throat white. Stamen filaments white 3.5–5.5 mm long; anthers obtuse or shortly apiculate, dark pink or purplish mauve, 1.9–2.4 mm long. Nectarial disc glabrous. Ovary ovoid, glabrous or sparsely eglandular hairy, 1.5–2.1 mm long; style 3.00–6.50 × c.0.15–0.25 mm thick, glabrous or with sparse multicellular hairs (especially toward base), white; stigma subcapitate, white, yellow or green at anthesis, 0.25–0.35 mm wide. Capsules latiseptate, obtuse or subacute, pale to dark brown, 3.0–4.0 × 2.4–2.8 mm wide, glabrous or with sparse eglandular, multicellular hairs, loculicidal split extending ¼–½ way to base.

Similar Taxa

Veronica cryptomorpha is most similar to V. simulans and V. cockayneana from both of which it is mostly distinguished tetraploid chromosome number (2n = 40; 2n = 80 in V. simulans and 2n = 120 in V. cockayneana). From Veronica cockayneana it can be distinguished in the field by its oblanceolate leaves and from V. simulans by its longer, narrower leaves.

Flowering

October - December

Flower Colours

Red / Pink,White

Fruiting

December - April

Propagation Technique

Easily grown from cuttings and fresh seed. An attractive shrub for a rock garden. Dislikes humidity, and often will not flower at lower altitudes.

Threats

Not Threatened

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).

This page last updated on 4 Mar 2016