The New Zealand Plant Conservation Network

Species

Veronica flavida

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'.
flavida: pale yellow

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 flavida (Bayly, Kellow et de Lange) Garn.-Jones

Family

Plantaginaceae

Brief Description

Bushy small tree with pairs of yellowish narrow leaves and upright flower spikes inhabiting upland western Northland. Leaves to 135mm long, by 29mm wide, central vein yellowish. Leaf bud without a gap. Flowers white, with a tube around equal the teeth of the green base, in erect spikes 4-25cm long.

Flora Category

Vascular - Native

Structural Class

Dicotyledonous Trees & Shrubs

Synonyms

Hebe flavida Bayly, Kellow et de Lange

Distribution

Endemic to Northland, North Island, where it occurs with certainty between Warawara Forest and Waikaraka Valley in the north and Tangihua Forest in the south.

Habitat

Grows mostly in upland areas, above approximately 250 m a.s.l., often in cloud forest.

Features

Small tree (usually) or bushy shrub to 8 m tall. Branches erect, old stems brown or grey; branchlets green, puberulent to pubescent, hairs uniform; internodes (2.5-) 6-20 (-27) mm; leaf decurrencies evident (sometimes weakly). Leaf bud distinct; sinus absent. Leaves erecto-patent to patent; lamina linear-lanceolate to narrowly elliptic or oblanceolate, thin or subcoriaceous, flat or slightly m-shaped in transverse section (30-) 50-100 (-135) x (6-) 10-20 (-29) mm; apex acuminate or acute; brochidodromous secondary veins evident in fresh leaves; margin narrowly cartilaginous. puberulent, entire or distantly denticulate; upper surface light to dark green (with midrib and base of lamina usually yellow), dull, with few or without evident stomata, hairy along midrib; lower surface light green, hairy along midrib and sometimes covered with minute glandular hairs (when young) or rarely glabrous. Inflorescences with 60-140 (-155) flowers, lateral, unbranched (although one small secondary branch seen on one inflorescence of WELT 80664), (4-) 7-16 (-24.5) cm; peduncle (0.7-) 1-3 (-4.5) cm; rachis (2.8 -) 5.5-14 (-20.5) cm. Bracts alternate, lanceolate or narrowly deltoid, acute, hairy outside. Flowers hermaphrodite. Pedicels 1.5-4.2 mm. Calyx 2.1-2.7 mm; lobes linear or narrowly deltoid, acute or acuminate, hairy outside. Corolla tube hairy inside and sometimes outside (near base of corolla lobes), 1.5-3 x 1.7-2.7 mm, funnelform, shorter than or equalling calyx (usually asymmetrically divided - anterior side is approximately equal to calyx, but posterior is shorter); lobes white or tinged mauve to pink at anthesis (sometimes very faintly), lanceolate (sometimes narrowly) or ovate or elliptic, subacute (usually) or obtuse, suberect to patent, longer than corolla tube, sometimes sparsely hairy inside. Stamen filaments 5.5-6.8 mm; anthers violet or purple or blue, 1.5-2.5 mm. Ovary sometimes hairy, approximately 0.8-1 mm; ovules approximately 9-13 per locule; style 4-7.2 mm, sometimes hairy. Capsules, obtuse or subacute, 2.5-4 x (2-) 2.5-3.5 mm, sometimes hairy, loculicidal split extending ½-¾-way to base. Seeds flattened (sometimes strongly), more or less broad ellipsoid to discoid, pale brown, (0.8-) 0.9-1.4 (-1.6) x 0.7-1.2 mm, Micropylar rim 0.1-0.3 mm.

Similar Taxa

The three, species it most closely resembles are V. stricta (of which var. stricta occurs in Northland). V. rivalis and V. ligustrifolia. V. stricta has a similar shrubby habit and superficial appearance (although it doesn't grow as tall as V. flavida often does), but is readily distinguished by its flowers, which have corolla tubes much longer than the calyces. V. rivalis has flowers similar to V. flavida, with short corolla tubes, but differs most substantially in having leaves that are generally narrower both in absolute terms and in proportion to their length (they are (3-) 4-9(-12) wide, and linear or linear-lanceolate), and in that it is a low-growing shrub, usually not exceeding 1.2 m in height, that apparently grows exclusively on riverbanks, in the zone of vegetation subjected to occasional flooding. Differences from V. ligustrifolia are less clear-cut, but V. flavida often has longer leaves that are more conspicuously tapered toward the apex and a larger habit, and usually occupies more upland habitats. Flavonoid chemistry distinguishes V. flavida from all samples of V. stricta and V. rivalis, but not consistently from samples of V. ligustrifolia (Mitchell et al. in prep.). See also ‘Taxonomic Notes’ below.

Flowering

January-June

Flower Colours

White

Fruiting

March-June (-September)

Propagation Technique

Easy from fresh seed and semi-hardwood cuttings. A fast growing species which often forms a small tree 5-6 m tall.

Threats

Chromosome No.

2n = 40

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 13 Nov 2019