Veronica lyallii
Common names
Lyall’s parahebe, Lyall’s speedwell
Biostatus
Native – Endemic taxon
Category
Vascular
Structural class
Herbs - Dicotyledons other than Composites
Flower colours
Blue, White
Detailed description
Subshrub to 300 mm tall. Stems brown, red-brown or grey. Branches prostrate to erect. Branchlets brown to grey or purplish. Vegetative internodes 1-20 mm long. Stems bifariously or uniformly eglandular-pubescent. Leaves erecto-patent to recurved. Lamina ovate, oblong, elliptic, orbicular, deltoid, rhomboid, rarely linear, 3-15 × 2-10 mm. Upper surface of leaves dull, green, bronze green, yellowish green or dark green; under surface of leaves dull, green, pale green or pinkish. Leaf hairs sparse or absent, along midrib above, eglandular. Apex rarely acute or subacute or obtuse or rounded. Base cuneate or truncate. Margin glabrous, crenate or rarely serrate, marginal teeth or lobes in 1-10 pairs. Petiole 1-3 mm long. Inflorescence racemose, 3-15-flowered, unbranched, 50-200 mm long at fruiting. Peduncle, rachis, and pedicels glabrous or moderately densely eglandular hairy. Peduncle 20-120 mm long, glabrous, eglandular-pubescent or glandular-pubescent. Rachis 10-100 mm long, eglandular-pubescent or glandular-pubescent. Bracts alternate, linear, lanceolate, elliptic or ovate, subacute, glabrous, glandular-ciliate or eglandular-ciliate, margins entire. Pedicels 8-25 mm long, eglandular-pubescent or glandular-pubescent. Flowers with corolla, corolla tube and lobes pigmented white, pale blue or pink at anthesis, and corolla throat white, pale blue, pink or yellow. Nectar guides evident, obscure or absent, if present magenta, pink or purple. Colour ring magenta, pink or purple. Calyx 4-lobed, 2–4(–4.5) mm long, calyx lobes elliptic, oblanceolate, acuminate, acute or subacute; calyx hairs on margins only, upper surface eglandular, glandular or mixed eglandular-glandular, lower surface glabrous, with minute glandular dots; lobe margins entire. Corolla 8-15 mm diameter, tube 1.5-2.0 × 1.0-1.5 mm wide, hairy inside, hairs short; lobes glabrous. Stamen filaments white, 2.5-4.0 mm long. Anthers white or pink, 1.0-1.5 mm long. Nectarial disc ciliolate. Ovary ovoid or ellipsoid, obtuse, glabrous, 1.0–1.3 mm long. Style (3–) 3.5–4.5(–5) mm long. Capsules weakly flattened), emarginate, 3-5 × 3-4 mm, glabrous. Septicidal split of capsule extending to base, loculicidal split extending ¼-way to base. Seeds ellipsoid or obovoid, pale brown to dark brown, 0.6-0.8 × 0.5-0.6 mm
Habitat
Lowland to subalpine (rarely alpine). Common along stream and river banks and beds, screes, slips, cliffs, seeps, and in similar stony sites
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.
Please note, threat classifications are often suggested by authors when publications fall between NZTCS assessment periods – these interim threat classification statuses has not been assessed by the NZTCS panel.
- 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 | Not Threatened
Detailed taxonomy
Family
Plantaginaceae
Synonyms
Hebe lyallii (Hook.f.) Allan, Parahebe lyallii (Hook.f.) W.R.B.Oliv.
Endemic taxon
Yes
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
Ecology
Flowering
September - February
Fruiting
November - June
Propagation technique
Easily grown from cuttings, rooted pieces and fresh seed. Popular in cultivation although it dislikes drought and humidity.
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’.
lyallii: Named after David Lyall (1817-1895), 19th century Scottish naturalist and surgeon with the Royal Navy, who explored Antarctica, New Zealand, the Arctic and North America and was a lifelong friend of Sir Joseph Hooker.
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.
VERLYA
Chromosome number
2n = 42
Previous conservation statuses
2017 | Not Threatened
2012 | Not Threatened
2009 | Not Threatened
2004 | Not Threatened
Referencing and citations
References and further reading
Garnock-Jones, P.J.; Lloyd, D.G. 2003: A taxonomic revision of Parahebe (Plantaginaceae) in New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Botany 42: 181-232.
Attribution
Fact Sheet by P.J. de Lange (5 October 2006). Description adapted from Garnock-Jones and Lloyd (2003).
NZPCN Fact Sheet citation
Please cite as: de Lange, P.J. (Year at time of access): Veronica lyallii Fact Sheet (content continuously updated). New Zealand Plant Conservation Network. https://www.nzpcn.org.nz/flora/species/veronica-lyallii/ (Date website was queried)