Species
Veronica ochracea
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'.
ochracea: ochre-coloured
Current Conservation Status
2012 - At Risk - Naturally Uncommon
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 - At Risk - Naturally Uncommon
2004 - Range Restricted
Qualifiers
2012 - Sp
Authority
Veronica ochracea (Ashwin) Garn.-Jones
Family
Plantaginaceae
Brief Description
Spreading low growing shrub bearing orangeish erect narrow short scaly twigs inhabiting Northwest Nelson mountains. Twigs 1-2.7mm wide. Leaves scale-like, smooth, merging with stem, closely packed, clasping stem, sometimes with a hairy margin (lens needed), tip rounded. Flowers white, in groups of 4-8 at tips of twigs.
Flora Category
Vascular - Native
HEBOCH
The
National Vegetation Survey (NVS) Databank is a physical archive and electronic databank containing records of over 94,000 vegetation survey 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
Hebe ochracea Ashwin, Leonohebe ochracea (Ashwin) Heads
Distribution
South Island - Mountains of Western Nelson, from the Anatoki Range to Mount Owen, with a disjunct southern occurrence in the Paparoa Range.
Habitat
Grassland or shrubland, usually over limestone or marble rocks.
Features
Spreading low or bushy shrub to 0.4 m tall, of whipcord form. Branches ascending or spreading (with numerous short and erect secondary branches arising from upper surface); internodes (0.4-) 1-2.7 (-3) mm; branchlets, including leaves, 1.4-3.4 mm wide; connate leaf bases usually hairy or sometimes glabrous; nodal joint usually obscure (but sometimes apparent in older leaves), exposed; leaves not readily abscising and fragments persistent along the stem for some distance. Leaves connate, appressed; lamina not thickened near the apex; margin densely ciliate; lower surface dark green (and ochre-coloured at tips), veins not visible. glossy. Inflorescences with 4-8 flowers, terminal, unbranched, (0.2-) 0.3-0.85 cm. Bracts opposite and decussate, connate, broadly ovate, obtuse or subacute. Flowers hermaphrodite. Calyx 2-2.4 mm, with anterior lobes united to apex; lobes ovate (fused anterior lobe very broadly oblong-ovate), subacute (posterior) or obtuse (or slightly emarginate, anterior). Corolla tube hairy inside, 1.2-1.4 x 1.5-1.6 mm, funnelform, shorter than or equalling calyx; lobes white at anthesis, obovate or elliptic, obtuse or subacute (posterior sometimes emarginate), suberect to recurved (with age), longer than corolla tube. Stamen filaments straight or possibly slightly incurved at apex in bud, 2.8-3.5 mm; anthers pink to orange, 1.3-1.4 mm. Ovary globose, sometimes hairy, 0.6-0.7 mm, apex (in septum view) didymous; ovules 5-9 per locule, style 3-4.5 mm. Capsules obtuse or truncate or didymous, 1.7-2.6 x 1.7-2.5 mm, sometimes hairy, loculicidal split extending 1/3-3/4-way to base (mostly approximately 1/3). Seed characters not recorded.
Similar Taxa
Distinguished from other whipcord species by the combination of: usually fused anterior calyx lobes; lack of a conspicuous nodal joint, except sometimes on older leaves; leaves that are not obviously ribbed; and the overall ochre colour of fresh plants, a product of the colour of the leaf tips. It is probably most similar to the group of related species comprising V. salicornioides, V. armstrongii and V. annulata, with which it usually shares the first three of these features. It is geographically distinct from those species, and differs in overall coloration, the relative size, shape and arrangement
of leaves, as well as in chromosome number, and ITS sequences (Wagstaff & Wardle 1999).
Flowering
(November-) January-February
Flower Colours
White
Fruiting
February-April
Chromosome No.
2n = 124
Endemic Taxon
Yes
Endemic Genus
No
Endemic Family
No
Life Cycle and Dispersal
Seeds are wind dispersed (Thorsen et al., 2009).
Attribution
Description adapted by M. Ward from Bayly & Kellow (2006).
References and further reading
Bayly, M.J., Kellow, A.V. 2006. An illustrated guide to New Zealand Hebes. Wellington, N.Z.: Te Papa press pg. 104.
Wagstaff, S. J. and Wardle, P. 1999. Whipcord hebes - systematics, distribution, ecology and evolution. New Zealand Journal of Botany 37: 17-39.
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 11: 285-309
This page last updated on 23 Nov 2019