The New Zealand Plant Conservation Network

Species

Veronica elliptica

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'.
elliptica: elliptic

Common Name(s)

kokomuka, shore hebe, shore koromiko

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 elliptica G.Forst.

Family

Plantaginaceae

Brief Description

Bushy shrub or small tree of coastal areas bearing pairs of dark green glossy leaves with a narrow white-hairy margin. Leaves 12-31mm long by 6-12mm wide. Leaf with narrow gap between leaves at base. Flowers white or purplish, in spike to 5cm long.

Flora Category

Vascular - Native

NVS Species Code

HEBELL

Structural Class

Dicotyledonous Trees & Shrubs

Synonyms

Veronica forsteri F.Muell. nom. illeg., Veronica decussata Moench, Veronica decussata Aiton, Hebe magellanica J.F.Gmel., Veronica marginata Colenso, Hebe elliptica (G.Forst.) Pennell, Hebe elliptica var. crassifolia Cockayne et Allan

Distribution

Indigenous. North, South, Stewart, Snares, Auckland and Campbell Islands. In the North Island scarce, known only from the west coast in scattered locations on the south Taranaki coast, on Kapiti Island, and Titahi Bay. Naturalised on Chatham (Rekohu) Island. Indigenous also to the Falkland Islands. Also naturalised on Maatsuyker Island, Tasmania

Habitat

Grows in coastal areas, often in exposed places on rocks

Features

Bushy shrub to 2 m tall. Branches erect, old stems brown; branchlets green or red-brown or reddish-black (initial cork formation often in regions between decurrencies), pubescent. hairs strictly bifarious or uniform; internodes (1-) 4-13 (-17.5) mm; leaf decurrencies evident (and often with a narrow ridge along medial line). Leaf bud distinct; sinus square to oblong. Leaves decussate or sometimes more or less subdistichous (with petioles twisted so that leaves face in more or less one direction), erecto-patent to patent; lamina broadly to narrowly elliptic or oblong or obovate or oblanceolate, coriaceous, flat or m-shaped in transverse section, (5-) 12-31 (-42) x (3-) 6-12 (-18) mm; apex plicate and mucronate or acute; base cuneate to truncate; margin sometimes cartilaginous, conspicuously long-pubescent (with dense, tangled hairs; except at apex), entire or minutely crenulate; upper surface green or dark green, dull or slightly glossy, with many stomata, minutely hairy along midrib; lower surface light green; petiole 1-4 (-8.5) mm, glabrous or sometimes hairy along margins (but hairs much shorter and more sparse than those on rest of leaf margin). Inflorescences with (3-) 6-14 flowers, lateral, unbranched, 1.5-5.1 cm, shorter to longer than subtending leaves; peduncle 0.4-1.7 cm; rachis 1.1-3.6 cm. Bracts alternate (lowermost often a more or less subopposite pair or a slightly offset "whorl" of three), deltoid, acute or subacute. Flowers, hermaphrodite. Pedicels (1.5-) 3-8 (-9) mm. Calyx (3.5-) 4-6.5 mm; lobes lanceolate or ovate or elliptic, obtuse to acute, with mixed glandular and eglandular cilia (eglandular most conspicuous, often long and tangled). Corolla tube hairy inside or glabrous, 3-4 x 3.5-4 mm, shortly and broadly funnelform, shorter than or equalling calyx; lobes mauve or blue at anthesis, ovate or elliptic, obtuse or subacute, patent to recurved, longer than corolla tube. Stamen filaments white or mauve, 4.5-5.5 mm, anthers mauve, 2.4-3.2 mm. Nectarial disc glabrous or densely ciliate. Ovary 1.7-2 mm; ovules 45-61 per locule, in 2-3 layers; style 4-6.5 mm. Capsules, subacute, 5.5-8.5 x (3.5-) 4-5.5 mm, loculicidal split extending ¼-½-way to base (mostly ¼ - 1/3). Seeds flattened, broad ellipsoid to discoid, winged or not winged, straw-yellow to brown, 0.9-2 x 0.9-1.5 mm, micropylar rim 3-0.5 mm.

Flowering

(August-) November-March (-June)

Flower Colours

Blue,White

Fruiting

November-April (-October)

Propagation Technique

Easily grown from semi-hardwood cuttings and layered pieces. An excellent coastal shrub which does well in most gardens but rarely flowers in northern New Zealand. Hebe elliptica is extremely variable, and some critical selection of the range of wild forms is needed. Plants from near Charleston are particularly distinctive in that they retain their flat, creeping habit in cultivation.

Threats

Not Threatened

Chromosome No.

2n = 40

Endemic Taxon

No

Endemic Genus

No

Endemic Family

No

Life Cycle and Dispersal

Seeds are wind dispersed (Thorsen et al., 2009).

This page last updated on 25 Oct 2019