Veronica catarractae

Detailed description

Subshrub, 50-500 mm tall. Old stems brown or red-brown. Branches ascending to erect. Branchlets brown or red-brown or green or purplish. Vegetative internodes 5-50 mm long. Stem pubescence bifarious, eglandular pubescent (antrorse, curved). Leaves decussate, erecto-patent to spreading. Lamina linear or lanceolate or oblanceolate or elliptic (rarely), 20-120 × 5-30 mm. Upper surface surface of leaves green, dull. Under surface of leaves whitish, dull. Leaf hairs numerous to dense, along midrib above (especially near base), uniseriate eglandular and glandular with short 1-celled stalk and small vertically divided head. Apex acute. Base cuneate. Margin glabrous, serrate. Marginal teeth or lobes in 5-25 pairs. Petiole 2-10 mm long. Inflorescence racemose, unbranched, 60-250 mm long at fruiting, with 12–40 flowers. Indumentum of peduncle, rachis, and pedicels moderately dense to very dense. Eglandular hairs of inflorescence antrorse, rust brown. Peduncle 3-100 mm long, eglandular-pubescent and glandular-pubescent; hairs in 1 row. Rachis 40-120 mm long, eglandular-pubescent and glandular-pubescent, hairs in 1 row above each bract. Bracts alternate, acute to acuminate, glabrous or ciliate with both glandular and eglandular hairs (rarely), linear. Bract margins entire. Pedicels suberect at anthesis, incurved at fruiting, 9-23 mm long, eglandular-pubescent or glandular-pubescent; hairs in 1 row (or rarely more-or-less uniform). Flowers: Calyx 4-lobed, 2.5-4.0 mm long. Calyx lobes lanceolate or ovate, acuminate (by folding). Calyx hairs on margins only, eglandular or mixed eglandular and glandular. Calyx lobe margins entire. Corolla white at anthesis. Nectar guides evident, present on posterior and lateral corolla lobes. Colour ring and nectar guides purple. Corolla throat yellow. Corolla 10-14 mm diameter. Corolla tube 1.0-1.5 mm long, 1 mm wide, hairy inside, hairs short. Corolla lobes glabrous. Posterior corolla lobe circular, obtuse, 5-7 × 4-6 mm. Lateral corolla lobes circular, obtuse, longitudinally folded around stamens, 5-7 × 5-7 mm. Anterior corolla lobe elliptic or rhomboid, obtuse, 5.0-6.0 × 2.5-3.5 mm. Stamen filaments white, 3-6 mm long, narrowed at base. Anthers magenta, when dry and dehisced 1 mm long. Nectarial disc ciliolate. Ovary ellipsoid, obtuse to emarginate, glabrous, 0.8-1.0 mm long. Style 4-6 mm long. Stigma 0.2 mm wide. Capsules weakly flattened emarginate, 3.5-5.0 × 3.5-5.0 mm, 1.5-2.0 mm thick, glabrous. Septicidal split of capsule extending to base. Loculicidal split of capsule extending ¾ way to base. Seeds strongly flattened, smooth-surfaced, broadly ellipsoid or discoid, pale brown, 0.8 × 0.7–0.8 mm