Species
Veronica venustula
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 plantVascular plant:
A plant that possesses specialised conducting tissue (xylem and phloem). This includes flowering plants, conifers and ferns but excludes mosses, algae, lichens and liverworts.
Taxa:
Taxonomic groups. Used to refer to a group at any level e.g., genus, species or subspecies.
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 venustula Colenso
Family
Plantaginaceae
Brief Description
Bushy shrub bearing pairs of glossy ovalOval:
Planar, shaped like a flattened circle, symmetrical about both the long and the short axis; about twice as long as broad, tapering equally both to the tip and the base. Synonymous with elliptical.
Click thumbnails to enlarge
Flora Category
Vascular - NativeNative:
Naturally occurring in New Zealand (i.e., not introduced accidentally or deliberately by humans).
HEBVEN
The
National Vegetation Survey (NVS) Databank is a physical archive and electronic databank containing records of over 94,000 vegetation
surveySurvey:
Collection of observations on the spatial distribution or presence or absence of species using standardised procedures.
plots - including data from over 19,000 permanent plots. NVS maintains a standard set of species code abbreviations that correspond to standard scientific plant names from the Ngä Tipu o Aotearoa - New Zealand Plants database.
Structural Class
Dicotyledonous Trees & Shrubs
Synonyms
Veronica azurea Colenso, Hebe laevis Cockayne et Allan, Veronica laevis Benth. in DC. nom. illeg., Hebe venustula (Colenso) L.B.Moore
Flower Colours
White
Threats
Not Threatened
Chromosome No.
2n = 120
EndemicEndemic:
Unique or confined to a place or region, found naturally nowhere else.
Taxon:
A taxonomic group. Used to refer to a group at any level e.g., genus, species or subspecies.
Yes
EndemicEndemic:
Unique or confined to a place or region, found naturally nowhere else.
Genus:
A taxonomic rank of closely related forms that is further subdivided in to species (plural = genera). In a scientific name (e.g., Sicyos australis), the first word is the genus, the second the species.
No
EndemicEndemic:
Unique or confined to a place or region, found naturally nowhere else.
No
Life Cycle and Dispersal
Seeds are wind dispersed (Thorsen et al., 2009).
References and further reading
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 Systematics :
The study of taxonomy, phylogenetics, and taxagenetics.
This page last updated on 16 Feb 2016