Veronica macrantha var. macrantha
Common name
hebe
Synonyms
Hebe macrantha (Hook.f.) Cockayne et Allan var. macrantha, Parahebe macrantha (Hook.f.) Heads
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.
HEBMVM
Chromosome number
2n = 42
Current conservation status
The threat classification 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. Authors: By 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. Please note, threat classifications are often suggested by authors when publications fall between NZTCS assessment periods – a suggested threat classification status has not been assessed by the NZTCS panel.
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
Brief description
Low erect shrub bearing pairs of fleshy notched oval leaves and conspicuous white flowers on short erect branches inhabiting South Island mountains. Leaves distinctly longer than wide, gradually narrowing to leaf stalk and with 2-6 notches per side. Flowers white, in a cluster at tip of branches.
Distribution
Mountains of South Island, chiefly on or west of the Main Divide, from near Lake Tennyson, to the Franklin Mountains. The varieties overlap in distribution at Lake Tennyson, southern Nelson, and possibly also (not verified by specimens) at localities between there and Lewis Pass.
Habitat
It grows in penalpine grassland or low shrubland.
Features
Spreading low shrub to 0.3 (-0.5) m tall. Branches erect or spreading or decumbent, old stems mottled grey; branchlets green or red-brown or brown, glabrous or puberulent (usually only on very youngest branchlets), hairs uniform or bifarious; internodes 1-14 mm; leaf decurrencies obscure to swollen. Leaf bud indistinct and tightly surrounded by recently diverged leaves. Leaves narrowly elliptic or oblanceolate, or spathulate or sub-circular, coriaceous, slightly concave or flat, 5.5-30.2 x 2.5-13.5 mm, ratio of lamina length/width 1.2-3.3 (-3.8), distance from leaf base (including petiole) to widest point (5.1-) 10-20 (-23.2) mm,; apex subacute or obtuse; midrib not thickened, or depressed to grooved above and thickened below, sometimes evident in fresh leaves; margin glabrous or sparsely ciliolate, sometimes tinged red, deeply toothed, number of teeth on one side of leaf (2-) 3-7 (-11); upper surface green (sometimes tinged red near base), dull, with many stomata, glabrous or hairy along midrib; lower surface green, hairy along midrib (usually) or glabrous; petiole 0.5-5.4 mm. Inflorescences with 2-7 flowers, lateral, unbranched, 0.8-5.7 cm, with all flowers (including those near the apex) generally developing to maturity (but inflorescence usually terminated by a pair of empty bracts); peduncle (6-) 7-30.7 mm long; rachis 0.2-2.7 cm. Lowermost bracts on inflorescences (4-) 5-9.1 mm long, lowermost pair opposite, then subopposite or alternate above, narrowly deltoid or linear, obtuse (with a more or less squarish tip, often with a sunken apical gland). Flowers hermaphrodite. Pedicels shorter than bracts, (0.5-) 1-6 (-14.7) mm. Calyx 4.7-10.2 mm; lobes ovate or lanceolate, acuminate (with a more or less squarish tip, often with a sunken apical gland), glabrous outside (but hairy inside). Corolla tube glabrous, 4.5-5.3 x 2.5-4.5 mm (longer on anterior side), funnelform, shorter than calyx; lobes white at anthesis, ovate (often broadly), obtuse, patent to recurved, longer than corolla tube; corolla throat white or yellow. Stamen filaments thick and white, diverging slightly with age or remaining erect (and usually slightly incurved at the apex), 8-9.5 mm (varying from very shortly fused to the base of the corolla tube, to fused to the corolla lube for up to 2/3 its length); anthers creamy white or yellow, 2.6-3.5 mm. Ovary 1.6-2.5 mm; ovules 15-28 per locule, scattered on a hemispherical placenta; style 5.5-9.3 mm. Capsules angustiseptate, acute, 6.5-12.4 mm long, 4.5-6.5 mm thick, loculicidal split extending ¼-all way to base. Seeds flattened (sometimes strongly), discoid, winged, pale brown, 1.5-2.7 x 1.2-2.2 mm, micropylar rim 0.6-1 mm.
Similar taxa
A distinctive species distinguished from other Veronica’s by its large flowers, toothed leaves, indistinct leaf bud and laterally compressed capsules.
Compared to V. var. brachyphylla, V. var. macrantha has leaves narrowly elliptic or oblanceolate (not broadly elliptic); a greater distance from leaf base (including petiole) to widest point; generally a greater number of teeth on one side of leaf; longer lowermost bract on inflorescence (see each variants feature for exact measures).
Flowering
(November-) December-February (-April)
Flower colours
White
Fruiting
(December-) February-May (-November)
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’.
macrantha: Big flowered
Taxonomic notes
Morphological variation, and the taxonomic status of the two varieties, are discussed by Bayly et al. (2004). V. var. macrantha is more variable, particularly in leaf shape and size, than V. var. brachyphylla.
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. 286.
Bayly, M.J., Kellow, A.V., Ansell, R., Mitchell, K. and Markham, K. R. 2004. Geographic variation in Hebe macrantha (Plantaginaceae): morphology and Flavonoid chemistry. Tuhinga, Records of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa 15: 27-41.
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 macrantha var. macrantha Fact Sheet (content continuously updated). New Zealand Plant Conservation Network. https://www.nzpcn.org.nz/flora/species/veronica-macrantha-var-macrantha/ (Date website was queried)