The New Zealand Plant Conservation Network

Species

Veronica macrocalyx var. humilis

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'.
macrocalyx: From the Greek macros 'large' and calyx
humilis: Lowest, dwarf, small, slight

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 macrocalyx var. humilis (G.Simpson) Garn.-Jones

Family

Plantaginaceae

Brief Description

Low growing shrub with erect twigs bearing pairs of small curved green thick fleshy rounded leaves that hardly narrow to a broad leaf stalk inhabiting northern South Island mountains. Leaves to 11 mm long, about as wide as long. Flowers white , almost hidden by long narrow teeth of base.

Flora Category

Vascular - Native

Structural Class

Dicotyledonous Trees & Shrubs

Synonyms

Hebe haastii var. humilis (G.Simpson) L.B.Moore, Leonohebe haastii var. humilis (G.Simpson) Heads, Hebe macrocalyx var. humilis G.Simpson

Distribution

Mountains of Nelson and Marlborough, South Island, south from the Anatoki Range to the Spenser Mountains, and Mount Richmond.

Habitat

It grows in rocky alpine herb fields, on rock debris or scree.

Features

Subshrub to 20cm high. Branches prostrate to decumbent, old stems brown; branchlets green to purplish, glabrous or puberulent, hairs bifarious; internodes 1-5.5 (-10.9) mm; leaves not readily abscising, persisting on stem, or decaying leaving basal parts attached. Leaf bud tightly surrounded by recently diverged leaves. Leaves often slightly keeled, decussate to slightly subdistichous, connate, erecto-patent to patent; lamina obovate to spathulate or elliptic to ovate or rhomboid, fleshy, concave, 5.5-11 (-13.5) x (2-) 3-7.5 (-8.5) mm; apex obtuse; midrib slightly thickened below and slightly depressed to grooved above; not cartilaginous, not thickened, glabrous or glandular-ciliate and sometimes minutely papillate, usually tinged red, entire or rarely shallowly toothed; upper surface green, dull to glossy, with many stomata, glabrous; lower surface green, dull to glossy; petiole (1-) 2-5 mm, hairy along margins. Inflorescences with 2-12 flowers per spike, 3-12 spikes per flowering head, terminal and lateral (arranged, often laxly, in a flowering head), unbranched, (0.5-) 1-3 (-4.3) cm (total length of flowering head), spikes about equal to subtending leaves (flowering head usually longer than subtending leaves); peduncle approximately 0.1 cm, hairy or glabrous; rachis 0.3-0.4 (-0.6) cm (longest when growing in shade). Bracts lowermost pair opposite, then subopposite or alternate above, connate or rarely free, lanceolate to linear or sometimes deltoid, subacute (usually) or obtuse, margins glabrous or hairy. Flowers hermaphrodite or female (on different plants). Pedicels absent. Calyx 4.5-7 mm, 4-5-lobed (5th lobe small, posterior); lobes red at apex, oblong to linear, or deltoid (sometimes, in Nelson populations only), subacute to obtuse or occasionally acute, with minute mixed glandular and eglandular cilia (usually) or glabrous. Corolla tube glabrous; tube of hermaphrodite flowers (2.5-) 4-6 x 1.5-2.5 mm, cylindric, shorter to longer than calyx (sometimes); tube of female flowers 3-4 x 1.5-2.2 mm, funnelform, shorter than calyx; lobes white at anthesis, ovate (usually) to elliptic, subacute to obtuse, patent to recurved (with age), shorter than (usually) to longer than (rarely) corolla tube. Stamen filaments remaining erect, 0.5-1.3 mm; anthers magenta, 1-1.9 mm; sterile anthers of female flowers white, 0.8 -1.1 mm. Ovary narrowly ovoid to conical, 2-2.5 mm; ovules 18-28 per locule, in 1-3 layers; style 3-8 mm on hermaphrodite flowers, 5-6 mm on female flowers; stigma larger in female flowers. Capsules acute to subacute, 3.5-4.5 (-5.5) x 2-3.5 mm, loculicidal split extending ¼-½-way to base. Seeds flattened, ellipsoid or more or less discoid, straw-yellow, 0.7-1 x 0.5-0.9 mm, micropylar rim 0.1-0.3 mm.

Similar Taxa

Distinguished from V. haastii, in which it was included by Cheeseman (1906) and Moore (in Allan 1961), by its: bright green, fleshy, petiolate and often subdistichous leaves; sometimes lax flowering head; usually linear calyx lobes; narrow acute capsule. V. var. humilis is more variable in terms of leaf shape (elliptic or rhomboidal to spathulate), leaf margins (smooth to papillose or erose), and calyx shape and length (lanceolate to linear). V. var. macrocalyx is relatively uniform in morphology, all specimens having bright green, spathulate leaves with cartilaginous leaf margins and green, linear calyx lobes. The species commonly grows near V. epacridea.

Flowering

(September-) November-March

Flower Colours

White

Fruiting

(November-) December-April (-October)

Chromosome No.

2n = 42

Endemic Taxon

Yes

Endemic Genus

No

Endemic Family

No

This page last updated on 13 Nov 2019