The New Zealand Plant Conservation Network

Species

Veronica haastii

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'.
haastii: Honours the New Zealand geologist and botanist Sir Julius von Haast (1822-87)

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 haastii Hook.f.

Family

Plantaginaceae

Brief Description

Low growing shrub with erect twigs bearing pairs of small curved reddish green or green thick fleshy rounded notched leaves that hardly narrow to a broad leaf stalk that touch those of the opposing leaf inhabiting South Island mountains. Leaves to 12mm long.

Flora Category

Vascular - Native

NVS Species Code

HEBHAA

Structural Class

Dicotyledonous Trees & Shrubs

Synonyms

Hebe haastii (Hook.f.) Cockayne et Allan, Leonohebe haastii (Hook.f.) Heads, Leonohebe haastii (Hook.f.) Heads var. haastii

Distribution

South Island. Predominantly on mountains of Canterbury, from the Craigieburn Range to The Hunters Hills, with a disjunct, northernmost occurrence on Mount Terako, Marlborough.

Habitat

Grows in open, alpine sites on rock debris and scree.

Features

Spreading low shrub to 0.2 m tall. Branches decumbent or ascending or spreading, old stems brown; branchlets purplish or green or brown, puberulent, hairs bifarious; internodes 2.5-7 (-10) mm; leaves not readily abscising, persisting on stem (usually) or decaying leaving basal parts attached. Leaf bud tightly surrounded by recently diverged leaves. Leaves decussate, connate, erecto-patent to patent; lamina elliptic to obovate or ovate or spathulate (rarely, on lowermost leaves), coriaceous to fleshy, flat or concave, (6.6-) 8.2-13 x (4.2-) 5.5- 9.3 (-11.6) mm; apex rounded to subacute; midrib slightly thickened below, sometimes evident in fresh leaves (below); margin not cartilaginous, not thickened, glabrous, often tinged red, entire or shallowly to deeply toothed; upper surface green to dark green (sometimes tinged dark red), dull or glossy, with many stomata, glabrous; lower surface green to dark green (sometimes tinged dark red), dull or glossy. Inflorescences with 4-6 flowers per spike, (8-) 12-19 (-25) spikes per flowering head, terminal and lateral (arranged in a terminal flowering head), unbranched, (0.85-) 1.3-3.3 cm (total length of flowering head), spikes about equal to subtending leaves (flowering head longer than subtending leaves); peduncle 0-0.1 cm; rachis 0.2-0.3 cm. Bracts lowermost pair opposite, then subopposite or alternate above, connate, oblong to deltoid or lanceolate, acute to subacute or rarely obtuse. Flowers hermaphrodite or female (on different plants). Pedicels absent. Calyx 4-5 (-6) mm; lobes oblong or elliptic to lanceolate, subacute to obtuse. Corolla tube glabrous; tube of hermaphrodite flowers 4-5.5 (-6) x 1.8-2 mm, cylindric, shorter than or equalling calyx; lobes white at anthesis, elliptic or ovate, subacute. suberect to patent, shorter than corolla tube. Stamen filaments remaining erect, 0.1-0.4 mm; anthers pink, 1.1-1.2 mm. Ovary rarely hairy, 1.5-2 mm; ovules 24-30 per locule, in 1-2 layers; style 2-2.4 (-4) mm. Capsules subacute, 5-6 x 2.5-3.7 mm, loculicidal split extending ¼-½-way to base. Seeds more or less flattened, more or less broad ellipsoid, straw-yellow, 0.9-1.3 x 0.6-0.9 mm, micropylar rim 0.1-0.2 mm

Similar Taxa

Distinguished from other "Connatae" by both flavonoid and morphological characters (Kellow et al. 2003); it is most similar to V. macrocalyx and V. epacridea. It is distinguished from the former by darker coloured, decussate leaves that are not narrowed into a petiole, shorter calyx lobes, and larger but more compact flowering heads. It is distinguished from the later by larger, toothed and less rigid leaves, which are never keeled and do not have thickened margins, and by minutely ciliolate (rather than long-ciliate) calyx lobes.

Flowering

December-January (-February)

Flower Colours

White

Fruiting

January-April (-August)

Threats

Not Threatened

Chromosome No.

2n = 42

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 13 Nov 2019