Veronica biggarii
Common names
Biggar’s hebe
Biostatus
Native – Endemic taxon
Category
Vascular
Structural class
Trees & Shrubs - Dicotyledons
Simplified description
Small bushy fleshy shrub bearing pairs of oval, red-margined leaves and flower spikes on a noticeable stalk at the tips of erect branches and inhabiting northern Southland mountains. Young flower spikes a distinctive bright pink. Leaves 7-15mm long by 4-8mm wide. Leaf bud without gap at base.
Flower colours
Red/Pink, White
Detailed description
Small, erect to sparingly branched spreading, bushy shrub to 0.5 m tall. Branches spreading, decumbent, ascending or erect, old stems grey; branchlets green, brown, red-brown or purplish, puberulent, pubescent or glabrous, hairs bifarious; internodes 3-12 mm. Leaf bud distinct; sinus absent. Leaves erecto-patent to patent; lamina narrowly to broadly elliptic, coriaceous, concave or flat, 5-20 × 2-10 mm; apex acute to rounded; midrib not thickened, rarely evident in fresh leaves; margin glabrous, often tinged red; upper surface glaucous, glabrous; lower surface glaucous. Inflorescences with 8-25 flowers, lateral, unbranched, 20-50 mm long; peduncle 5-18 mm; rachis 15-25 mm. Bracts alternate, linear to narrowly deltoid, subacute to acute. Flowers hermaphrodite. Pedicels < or = to bracts, 1-3 mm long. Calyx 1.8-3.0 mm, 4-5-lobed; lobes lanceolate, subacute or acute, with mixed glandular/eglandular cilia. Corolla tube glabrous, 1.5-1.8 × 2.0-2.5 mm, contracted at base, = or > calyx; lobes white or tinged pink, elliptic, obtuse or subacute, erect to recurved, > corolla tube. Stamen filaments slightly diverging with age, 3-4 mm, anthers magenta, 1.6-1.8 mm. Ovary 1.4-1.8 mm; style 3.5-5.0 mm. Capsules usually pinkish-red when immature, acute, 3.5-4.0 × 2.0-3.0 mm, loculicidal split extending ¼-⅓ way to base. Seeds strongly to weakly flattened, ellipsoid, oblong-ellipsoid to irregular, straw-yellow to pale brown, 0.8-1.3 × 0.6-0.8 mm.
Similar taxa
Differs from Veronica buchananii and V. pinguifolia by its erect growth habit, distinctly pedicellate (at least the lower most) flowers, mostly glabrous ovaries and capsules; and by the acute apices of the developing capsules. The dark red-pigmentation of the infructescences of Veronica biggarii is especially distinctive though it can vary within populations.
Distribution
Endemic. New Zealand: South Island (Southland, Eyre and Thomson mountains and Mid Dome)
Habitat
Alpine. On rock outcrops, cliffs and bluffs also in open snow tussock (Chionochloa Zotov) grassland
Current conservation status
The conservation status of all known New Zealand vascular plant taxa at the rank of species and below were reassessed in 2022-2023 using the New Zealand Threat Classification System (NZTCS) – more information about this can be found on the NZTCS website. This report includes replaces all previous NZTCS lists for vascular plants. Previous assessments can be found here.
- Conservation status of vascular plants in Aotearoa New Zealand, 2023. 2024. Peter J. de Lange, Jane Gosden, Shannel P. Courtney, Alexander J. Fergus, John W. Barkla, Sarah M. Beadel, Paul D. Champion, Rowan Hindmarsh-Walls, Troy Makan and Pascale Michel Department of Conservation. Source: NZTCS and licensed by DOC for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence.
2023 | At Risk – Naturally Uncommon | Qualifiers: RR
Threats
A Naturally Uncommon, range-restricted endemic locally common within its key habitats and under no obvious threats.
Detailed taxonomy
Family
Synonyms
Hebe biggarii (Cockayne) Cockayne
Endemic taxon
Yes
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
Ecology
Flowering
October – June
Fruiting
November – May
Life cycle and dispersal
Seeds are wind dispersed (Thorsen et al., 2009).
Propagation technique
Easily grown from cuttings and fresh seed. An attractive species which has been used quite successfully in breeding new hebe cultivars.
Other information
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’.
NVS code
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.
VERBIG
Chromosome number
2n = 40
Previous conservation statuses
The conservation status of all known New Zealand vascular plant taxa at the rank of species and below were reassessed in 2022-2023 using the New Zealand Threat Classification System (NZTCS) – more information about this can be found on the NZTCS website. This report includes replaces all previous NZTCS lists for vascular plants. Previous assessments can be found here.
- Conservation status of vascular plants in Aotearoa New Zealand, 2023. 2024. Peter J. de Lange, Jane Gosden, Shannel P. Courtney, Alexander J. Fergus, John W. Barkla, Sarah M. Beadel, Paul D. Champion, Rowan Hindmarsh-Walls, Troy Makan and Pascale Michel Department of Conservation. Source: NZTCS and licensed by DOC for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence.
2017 | At Risk – Naturally Uncommon | Qualifiers: RR
2012 | At Risk – Naturally Uncommon | Qualifiers: RR, Sp
2009 | At Risk – Naturally Uncommon
2004 | Range Restricted
Regional conservation statuses
The regional threat classification system leverages off the national assessments in the NZTCS, providing information relevant for the regional context. Otago conservation status information is sourced from the “Regional conservation status of indigenous vascular plants in Otago” Jarvie S et al. (2024) report.
Otago: 2024 | At Risk – Regionally Naturally Uncommon | Qualifiers: DPS, DPT, NR, NStr, RR, Sp, TL
Referencing and citations
References and further reading
Bayly, M.; Kellow, A. 2006: An illustrated guide to New Zealand Hebes. Te Papa Press, Wellington.
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
Attribution
Fact Sheet by Peter J. de Lange (3 August 2006). Description modified from Bayley and Kellow (2006)
NZPCN Fact Sheet citation
Please cite as: de Lange, P.J. (Year at time of access): Veronica biggarii Fact Sheet (content continuously updated). New Zealand Plant Conservation Network. https://www.nzpcn.org.nz/flora/species/veronica-biggarii/ (Date website was queried)