The New Zealand Plant Conservation Network

Species

Veronica mooreae

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'.
mooreae: Honours Lucy B. Moore (1906-87), former botanist at DSIR Botany Division, who prepared most of the last comprehensive treatment of Hebe (in Allan 1961).

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 mooreae (Heads) Garn.-Jones

Family

Plantaginaceae

Brief Description

Low growing bushy shrub bearing pairs of narrow leaves with a rough margin (lens needed) and an abrupt shoulder at the leaf stalk inhabiting western South Island mountains. Leaves 14-18mm long, with ridge along underside. Leaf bud with triangular gap between leaves at base. Flower spike near tip of twig.

Flora Category

Vascular - Native

NVS Species Code

HEBMOO

Structural Class

Dicotyledonous Trees & Shrubs

Synonyms

Leonohebe mooreae Heads var. mooreae, Leonohebe mooreae var. telmata Heads, Hebe mooreae (Heads) Garn.-Jones

Distribution

Widespread on South Island, from the Wakamarama Range in the north to the Longwood Range in the south, chiefly on wetter mountains west of the Main Divide.

Habitat

It grows mostly in penalpine grassland and subalpine shrubland.

Features

Spreading low or bushy shrub to 1.2 (-2) m tall. Branches erect, old stems brown; branchlets green, pubescent (with somewhat strap-like, white, multicellular hairs often more or less appressed and upward-facing), hairs bifarious; internodes 1-4 (-8) mm; leaf decurrencies swollen and extended for length of internode (usually somewhat saddle-shaped); leaves abscising above nodes and lower part of petioles remaining attached to stem. Leaf bud distinct; sinus broad and shield-shaped. Leaves erecto-patent; lamina oblong or oblong-elliptic or oblong-lanceolate, rigid, slightly concave, (7-) 14-18 (-28) x (3-) 4-6 (-8) mm; apex acute or subacute; base cuneate (mostly) or truncate; midrib thickened below and depressed to grooved above (but not necessarily prominent on upper surface); margin glabrous, minutely crenulate; upper surface dark green, glossy, without evident stomata (usually) or with many stomata (on plants from Caswell Sound or Denniston Plateau), glabrous; lower surface dark green; petiole 1-3 mm, glabrous. Inflorescences with 3-13 flowers, lateral, unbranched, 0.8-2.9 cm, shorter to longer than subtending leaves; peduncle 0.1-0.5cm; rachis 0.7-2.6 cm. Bracts opposite and decussate, connate, ovate or deltoid, obtuse or subacute. Flowers hermaphrodite. Pedicels absent or when present always shorter than bracts, 0-1 mm. Calyx 3.3-4.5 mm, with anterior lobes free for most of their length or united to 1/3-way to apex; lobes lanceolate or ovate, subacute or obtuse, eglandular ciliolate or with mixed glandular and eglandular cilia (can vary on calyces from one plant). Corolla tube hairy inside or glabrous, approximately 4 x 2.4-2.6 mm, funnelform (narrowly) and contracted at base, equalling or longer than calyx; lobes white at anthesis, elliptic (often broadly) or lanceolate (anterior only), obtuse. patent to recurved, longer to shorter than corolla tube, sparsely hairy inside. Stamen filaments 3-4 mm; anthers pink (often faintly). Ovary ovoid or ellipsoid or globose, 1-1.3 mm; ovules 8-15 per locule; style 5.5-8.5 mm. Capsules subacute or obtuse, 3.5-4.5 x 2-2.8 mm, loculicidal split extending 1/4-way to base. Seeds flattened, more or less broad ellipsoid, more or less winged, more or less smooth, pale brown, 1.2-1.8 x 0.9-1.2 mm, micropylar rim approximately 0.4 mm.

Similar Taxa

Can be distinguished from similar species of "Buxifoliatae" (see Bayly & Kellow 2006) by having a combination of: bracts not extending beyond tips of calyces; inflorescences that are strictly lateral; no stomata on the upper leaf surface, except in some specimens from the Caswell Sound (Fiordland) and Denniston Plateau (Nelson) areas; leaves that are sharply keeled beneath (along the midrib) throughout their length; leaf buds that are usually not closely surrounded by several imbricate leaf pairs (particularly when compared with V. masoniae and V. pauciramosa); anterior calyx lobes that are usually free, but may be united up to 1/3 the way to the apex; and corolla lobes that are comparatively broad relative to their length (particularly when compared with V. odora and V. pauciramosa). An often-conspicuous feature of V. mooreae is possession of strongly crenulate leaf margins. This feature is not, however, evident on all specimens, and is also seen on some specimens of V. odora.

Flowering

November-February (-June)

Flower Colours

White

Fruiting

January-June (-December)

Chromosome No.

2n = 126

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 23 Nov 2019