Veronica haastii
Common names
hebe
Synonyms
Hebe haastii (Hook.f.) Cockayne et Allan, Leonohebe haastii (Hook.f.) Heads, Leonohebe haastii (Hook.f.) Heads var. haastii
Family
Plantaginaceae
Flora category
Vascular – Native
Endemic taxon
Yes
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
Structural class
Trees & Shrubs - Dicotyledons
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.
HEBHAA
Chromosome number
2n = 42
Current conservation status
The conservation status of all known New Zealand vascular plant taxa at the rank of species and below were reassessed in 2017 using the New Zealand Threat Classification System (NZTCS) – more information about this can be found on the NZTCS website. This report includes a statistical summary and brief notes on changes since 2012 and replaces all previous NZTCS lists for vascular plants.
Please note, threat classifications are often suggested by authors when publications fall between NZTCS assessment periods – an interim threat classification status has not been assessed by the NZTCS panel.
- Conservation status of New Zealand indigenous vascular plants, 2017 . 2018. Peter J. de Lange, Jeremy R. Rolfe, John W. Barkla, Shannel P. Courtney, Paul D. Champion, Leon R. Perrie, Sarah M. Beadel, Kerry A. Ford, Ilse Breitwieser, Ines Schönberger, Rowan Hindmarsh-Walls, Peter B. Heenan and Kate Ladley. Department of Conservation. Source: NZTCS and licensed by DOC for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence.
2017 | Not Threatened
Previous conservation statuses
2012 | Not Threatened
2009 | Not Threatened
2004 | Not Threatened
Simplified description
Low growing shrub with erect twigs bearing pairs of small curved reddish green or green thick fleshy rounded notched leaves that hardly narrow to a broad leaf stalk that touch those of the opposing leaf inhabiting South Island mountains. Leaves to 12mm long.
Distribution
South Island. Predominantly on mountains of Canterbury, from the Craigieburn Range to The Hunters Hills, with a disjunct, northernmost occurrence on Mount Terako, Marlborough.
Habitat
Grows in open, alpine sites on rock debris and scree.
Detailed description
Spreading low shrub to 0.2 m tall. Branches decumbent or ascending or spreading, old stems brown; branchlets purplish or green or brown, puberulent, hairs bifarious; internodes 2.5-7 (-10) mm; leaves not readily abscising, persisting on stem (usually) or decaying leaving basal parts attached. Leaf bud tightly surrounded by recently diverged leaves. Leaves decussate, connate, erecto-patent to patent; lamina elliptic to obovate or ovate or spathulate (rarely, on lowermost leaves), coriaceous to fleshy, flat or concave, (6.6-) 8.2-13 x (4.2-) 5.5- 9.3 (-11.6) mm; apex rounded to subacute; midrib slightly thickened below, sometimes evident in fresh leaves (below); margin not cartilaginous, not thickened, glabrous, often tinged red, entire or shallowly to deeply toothed; upper surface green to dark green (sometimes tinged dark red), dull or glossy, with many stomata, glabrous; lower surface green to dark green (sometimes tinged dark red), dull or glossy. Inflorescences with 4-6 flowers per spike, (8-) 12-19 (-25) spikes per flowering head, terminal and lateral (arranged in a terminal flowering head), unbranched, (0.85-) 1.3-3.3 cm (total length of flowering head), spikes about equal to subtending leaves (flowering head longer than subtending leaves); peduncle 0-0.1 cm; rachis 0.2-0.3 cm. Bracts lowermost pair opposite, then subopposite or alternate above, connate, oblong to deltoid or lanceolate, acute to subacute or rarely obtuse. Flowers hermaphrodite or female (on different plants). Pedicels absent. Calyx 4-5 (-6) mm; lobes oblong or elliptic to lanceolate, subacute to obtuse. Corolla tube glabrous; tube of hermaphrodite flowers 4-5.5 (-6) x 1.8-2 mm, cylindric, shorter than or equalling calyx; lobes white at anthesis, elliptic or ovate, subacute. suberect to patent, shorter than corolla tube. Stamen filaments remaining erect, 0.1-0.4 mm; anthers pink, 1.1-1.2 mm. Ovary rarely hairy, 1.5-2 mm; ovules 24-30 per locule, in 1-2 layers; style 2-2.4 (-4) mm. Capsules subacute, 5-6 x 2.5-3.7 mm, loculicidal split extending ¼-½-way to base. Seeds more or less flattened, more or less broad ellipsoid, straw-yellow, 0.9-1.3 x 0.6-0.9 mm, micropylar rim 0.1-0.2 mm
Similar taxa
Distinguished from other “Connatae” by both flavonoid and morphological characters (Kellow et al. 2003); it is most similar to V. macrocalyx and V. epacridea. It is distinguished from the former by darker coloured, decussate leaves that are not narrowed into a petiole, shorter calyx lobes, and larger but more compact flowering heads. It is distinguished from the later by larger, toothed and less rigid leaves, which are never keeled and do not have thickened margins, and by minutely ciliolate (rather than long-ciliate) calyx lobes.
Flowering
December-January (-February)
Flower colours
White
Fruiting
January-April (-August)
Life cycle
Seeds are wind dispersed (Thorsen et al., 2009).
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’.
haastii: Honours the New Zealand geologist and botanist Sir Julius von Haast (1822-87)
Etymology note
Honours the New Zealand geologist and botanist Sir Julius von Haast (1822-87), who first collected the species and whose specimen is the type.
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. 120.
Kellow, A. V., Bayly, M. J., Mitchell, K. A., Markham, K. R. and Brownsey, P. J. 2003. A taxonomic revision of Hebe informal group “Connatae” (Plantaginaceae), based on morphology and flavonoid chemistry. New Zealand Journal of Botany 41: 613-35.
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
NZPCN Fact Sheet citation
Please cite as: Ward, M.D. (Year at time of access): Veronica haastii Fact Sheet (content continuously updated). New Zealand Plant Conservation Network. https://www.nzpcn.org.nz/flora/species/veronica-haastii/ (Date website was queried)