Veronica masoniae
Common names
hebe
Biostatus
Native – Endemic taxon
Category
Vascular
Structural class
Trees & Shrubs - Dicotyledons
Simplified description
Low growing shrub with widely spaced erect twigs bearing pairs of small oval leaves that have a sharp shoulder where they join the leaf stalk inhabiting Northwest Nelson. Leaves 6-9mm long by 4-8mm wide. Flowers white or pinkish, in small clusters of 2-10 at tips of twigs.
Flower colours
White
Detailed description
Spreading low or bushy shrub to 0.5 m tall. Branches decumbent or ascending or erect, old stems brown; branchlets green or red-brown, pubescent (hairs multicellular, more or less appressed, usually upward-facing), hairs bifarious; internodes (1-) 2-4 (-5) mm; leaf decurrencies extended for length of internode and often more or less swollen; leaves usually abscising above nodes with a small portion of lower part of petioles remaining attached to stem. Leaf bud tightly surrounded by recently diverged leaves; sinus broad and shield-shaped. Leaves appressed to patent; lamina oblong (often broadly) or elliptic or sub-circular, rigid, concave, (3-) 6-9 (-10) x 4-8 mm; apex obtuse; base truncate (often abruptly); midrib evident in fresh leaves (below), forming a thickened keel throughout the length of leaf; margin glabrous or ciliolate (with very short, stiff hairs) or ciliate; upper surface dark green, glossy, with many stomata, glabrous; lower surface dark green, glossy; petiole 1-1.5 (-2) mm, glabrous. Inflorescences with 2-10 (-14) flowers, terminal, unbranched, 0.8-1.8 cm; rachis glabrous or hairy (but not evident without removal of flowers and bracts). Bracts opposite and decussate, connate, large and almost obscuring calyx, elliptic or sub-circular. obtuse (usually) or subacute, margins hairy (cilia usually longer than those of V. pauciramosa). Flowers hermaphrodite. Pedicels absent. Calyx 5.5-7 mm; lobes lanceolate to elliptic, obtuse or subacute, usually eglandular ciliate or very rarely with mixed glandular and eglandular cilia. Corolla tube hairy inside, 4.5-6 x approximately 1.5-2 mm, cylindric to funnelform, approximately equalling calyx; lobes white (usually) or tinged mauve at anthesis, ovate (often broadly) or elliptic, obtuse (posterior sometimes emarginate), suberect to recurved, longer to shorter than corolla tube, sometimes sparsely hairy inside. Stamen filaments 3-4.2 mm; anthers magenta, 1.8-2.6 mm. Ovary 1-1.4 mm, apex (in septum view) truncate or emarginate; ovules 8-14 per locule; style 7-9 mm. Capsules obtuse or subacute, 4-5 x c. 4 mm, loculicidal split extending ¼-1/3-way to base. Seeds strongly flattened, broad ellipsoid or obovoid, weakly winged, pale brown, 1.5-2.1 x 1-1.4 mm, micropylar rim 0.3-0.5 mm.
Similar taxa
Distinguished from similar species of “Buxifoliatae” (see Bayly & Kellow 2006) by the combination of: large ciliolate bracts that largely obscure the calyx; strictly terminal inflorescences; stomata on the upper leaf surface; leaves that are sharply keeled beneath (along the midrib) throughout their length; leaf buds that are closely surrounded by several imbricate leaf pairs; free anterior calyx lobes; and corolla lobes that are almost as broad as they are long.
Distribution
Mountains of western Nelson, South Island, from near Boulder Lake in the north to the Braeburn Range in the south.
Habitat
It grows in Chionochloa australis grassland, tussock grassland, or scrub, sometimes in wet 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.
- 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
Synonyms
Hebe pauciramosa var. masoniae L.B.Moore, Hebe masoniae (L.B.Moore) Garn.-Jones, Leonohebe masoniae (L.B.Moore) Heads var. masoniae, Leonohebe masoniae var. rotundata Heads,
Taxonomic notes
This was originally described by Moore (in Allan 1961) as a subspecies of V. pauciramosa but has been treated as a separate species for some time (e.g. by Heads 1987, 1992; Garnock-Jones 1993). Heads (1987), mostly on the basis of leaf shape and size, divided V. masoniae into two varieties with more or less overlapping distributions; these are not recognised by Bayly & Kellow (2006) as distinct.
Endemic taxon
Yes
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
Ecology
Flowering
(October-) December-February (-April)
Fruiting
January-May (-November)
Life cycle and dispersal
Seeds are wind dispersed (Thorsen et al., 2009).
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’.
masoniae: Honours Ruth Mason (1913-90), former botanist at DSIR Botany Division (and co-worker of L. B. Moore), who recognised some of the distinguishing features of the species.
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.
VERMAS
Chromosome number
2n = 118
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 | Not Threatened
2012 | Not Threatened
2009 | Not Threatened
2004 | Not Threatened
Referencing and citations
References and further reading
Allan, H. H. (1961). Flora of New Zealand. Vol. 1. Wellington: Government Printer.
Bayly, M.J., Kellow, A.V. 2006. An illustrated guide to New Zealand Hebes. Wellington, N.Z.: Te Papa press pg. 220.
Garnock-Jones, P. J. 1993. Phylogeny of the Hebe complex (Scrophulariaceae: Veroniceae). Australian Systematic Botany6: 457-79.
Heads, M. J. (1987). New names in New Zealand Scrophulariaceae. Otago Botanical Society Newsletter 5: 4-11.
Heads, M. J. (1992). Taxonomic notes on the Hebe complex (Scrophulariaceae) in the New Zealand mountains. Candollea 47: 583-95.
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
Description adapted by M. Ward from Bayly & Kellow (2006).
NZPCN Fact Sheet citation
Please cite as: Ward, M.D. (Year at time of access): Veronica masoniae Fact Sheet (content continuously updated). New Zealand Plant Conservation Network. https://www.nzpcn.org.nz/flora/species/veronica-masoniae/ (Date website was queried)