The New Zealand Plant Conservation Network

Species

Veronica densifolia

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)

hebejeebie

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 densifolia (F.Muell.) F.Muell.

Family

Plantaginaceae

Flora Category

Vascular - Native

Structural Class

Dicotyledonous Herbs other than Composites

Synonyms

Paederota densifolia F.Muell., Chionohebe densifolia (F.Muell.) B.G.Briggs et Ehrend.; Pygmea tetragona (Hook.f.) Ashwin; Logania tetragona Hook.f.; Veronica dasyphylla Kirk; Hebe dasyphylla (Kirk) Cockayne et Allan; Hebejeebie densifolia (F.Muell.) Heads

Distribution

Indigneous; New Zealand: South Island (throughout), also present in Australia

Habitat

Subalpine to alpine, in fellfield, tussock-grassland, on snopw banks amongst rubble, in damp crevices on rock tors and outcrops, in areas of snow melt and inhabiting moist peaty hollows.

Features

Perennial, rigid, tightly (to loosely) compacted low-growing subshrub with many ascending to erect branches arising from woody horizontal stem 1–5mm thick; 2–5 mm high. Branches 4.0–100.0 × 2.7–13.0 mm, glabrous or sometimes densely hairy. Leaves decussate, imbricate, tightly appressed to suberect with internodes of varying lengths, sessile, olive to medium green, or brown, rust or yellow especially near margins, becoming light green, light brown and/or purple near the base, widest at or below middle, 1.95–6.36 × 0.69–2.97 mm, lanceolate to narrowly ovate, triangular, rarely narrowly obovate or trilobed, with obtuse to subacute apex, entire (rarely bi- or trilobed) with concave curvature, often keeled, and with thickened recurved upper margins. Leaf trichomes eglandular and unicellular, and sometimes also glandular and multicellular, 0.1–0.9 mm long. Leaf inner surface glabrous, sometimes appearing punctate. Leaf outer surface glabrous and papillate upper half, sometimes densely punctate. Leaf margins with isolated trichomes or sparsely ciliate on lower ¼ to ½, glabrous on upper ½ to ¾. Bracts 2, 3.34–5.48 × 0.83–2.01 mm, lanceolate to narrowly ovate, rarely oblanceolate or narrowly lanceolate, sometimes concave and keeled, with thickened recurved upper margins, and obtuse to subacute apex. Bract trichomes eglandular and unicellular, sometimes also glandular and multicellular, 0.1–0.6 mm long. Bract inner surface glabrous. Bract outer surface papillate and glabrous, but bases sometimes densely hairy. Bract margins with isolated trichomes or densely ciliate on lower ½ to 2/3 of margins, glabrous above. Flowers solitary, sessile, axillary near branch tips. Calyx 3.95–7.40 mm long, persistent around capsule. Calyx lobes divided equally ½ to ¾ to base, 2.75–5.80 × 0.91–2.31 mm, lanceolate to narrowly ovate, rarely ovate or oblanceolate, with obtuse to subacute apex. Calyx lobe trichomes eglandular and unicellular, sometimes also glandular and multicellular, 0.1–0.6 mm long. Calyx lobe inner surface glabrous and papillate, rarely with isolated eglandular hairs on upper ½. Calyx lobes glabrous on outer surface, or with isolated or densely distributed trichomes on lower ½ to ¾, sometimes base of calyx also hairy. Calyx lobe margins with isolated trichomes or densely ciliate on lower ½ to 2/3, glabrous above. Corolla mauve, pale purple, or blue, 4.50–12.46 × 2.51–15.44 wide, funnel-form. Corolla tube shorter than or equal to calyx, 2.13–5.89 × 1.10–6.01mm. Corolla lobes 2.60–8.35 × 1.94–5.79 mm suberect to spreading, narrowly to broadly obovate, spathulate, with obtuse apex. Filaments 2, 1.16–4.27mm long. Anthers 1.02–1.98 × 0.58–1.35. Style 3.07–7.40mm long, included to about mid-petal lobe. Stigma 0.15–0.37mm wide, capitate, sometimes flattened. Ovary 0.64–1.58 × 0.47–0.93 mm, glabrous. Nectary disc 0.20–0.33 mm high. Capsule laterally compressed, bilobed, with septicidal and loculicidal dehiscence, 2.75–5.14 × 1.68–4.25 mm, 1.23–1.98 mm thick, glabrous. Seeds up to 46 per capsule, 0.52–1.13 × 0.27–0.84 mm wide.

Similar Taxa

Easily distinguished from other allied New Zealand Veronica species by the subshrub growth habit, decussate, imbricate leaves; leaves that are widest below middle, concave and often keeled, with thickened minutely papillate on the upper margin, and which have the leaf hairs that are usually <0.4mm long. In this species the corollas are funnelform, while the corolla tube is shorter than calyx; and the filaments are > 1mm long

Flowering

(October-) November - January

Flower Colours

Blue,Violet / Purple

Fruiting

Throughout the year

Propagation Technique

Easily grown in a rock garden or pot. In fact it is the only species that has proved reasonably suited to widespread cultivation. However, it rarely flowers at low altitudes and dislikes humidity and drought.

Threats

Not Threatened

Chromosome No.

2n = 42

Endemic Taxon

Yes

Endemic Genus

No

Endemic Family

No

Life Cycle and Dispersal

Seeds are dispersed by ballistic projection, wind and water (Thorsen et al., 2009).

This page last updated on 16 Feb 2016