New Zealand Plant Conservation Network
  • Member login
  • Join
Facebook
  • Home
  • Flora
    • Flora species
    • Tag names
    • Vascular
    • Non Vascular
    • Plant identification
    • Fungi
    • Make your own book
    • Quiz
  • Threats
    • Exotic Plants (Weeds)
    • Pest Animals
    • Other threats
  • Ecosystems
    • Plant communities
    • Ecosystem services
    • Novel ecosystems
  • Publications
    • Documents
    • Newsletter
    • Plant lists
    • Botanical Society journals
    • NZPCN publications
  • Conservation
    • Seedbank
    • Training
    • Restoration
    • Monitoring
    • Habitat protection
    • Funding
    • Botanic gardens
    • Botanic Societies
  • NZPCN
    • News
    • Trilepidea newsletter
    • Events
    • David Given Scholarship
    • Council members
    • Awards
    • Shop
    • Donate
    • Favourite Plant
    • Why join NZPCN?
    • Join
  • Help
    • FAQ
    • Query
    • Glossary
  • Contact us

Search flora

You are here:
  1. Home
  2. Flora
  3. Flora species
  4. Veronica masoniae

Veronica masoniae

Hebe masoniae.<br>Photographer: Sandra Wotherspoon, Licence: <a target='_blank' href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0'>CC BY-NC</a>. <a class='member-message' href='/nzpcn/why-join-nzpcn/' target='_blank'>Members can view a larger version of this image.</a>
Mt Peel, Nelson, January.<br>Photographer: John Smith-Dodsworth, Licence: <a target='_blank' href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0'>CC BY-NC</a>.
Download PDF Comment on factsheet

NZPCN members can select up to 20 plant species and automatically create a full colour, fully illustrated A4 book describing them (in PDF format).

  • Find out more...
  • Join NZPCN...
Find in plant lists
iNaturalist NZ View observations Biota of NZ Click here to view NZ Flora Click here to view Herbarium View AVH specimens Donate Support NZPCN

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

Jump to previous conservation statuses

Detailed taxonomy

Family

Plantaginaceae

Authority

Veronica masoniae (L.B.Moore) Garn.-Jones

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

Jump to current conservation status

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)

▲ Back to top
  • Home
  • Flora
  • Threats
  • Ecosystems
  • Publications
  • Conservation
  • NZPCN
  • Help
  • Contact us
  • Facebook

© 2025 New Zealand Plant Conservation Network • Website by RS

Coastlands Plant Nursery Wildlands

Website sponsor

  • Home
  • Flora
    • Flora species
    • Tag names
    • Vascular
      • Ferns
        • King fern
        • True ferns
        • Adder's tongue ferns
        • Fork ferns and whisk ferns
        • Horsetails
      • Conifers
        • Celery pines
        • Kauri
        • Podocarps
          • Podocarpus
          • Dacrydium
          • Prumnopitys
          • Dacrycarpus
          • Halocarpus
          • Lepidothamnus
          • Manoao
        • Cypress
      • Flowering plants
        • Parasites
          • Leafy mistletoes
          • Pygmy mistletoes
            • Korthalsella flowers
            • Korthalsella hosts
            • Dispersal of Korthalsella
            • Associates of Korthalsella
          • Root parasites
          • Saprophytes
        • Epiphytes
          • NZ
            • Typical
            • Occasional
            • Hemi-epiphytes
            • Ephemeral
            • NZ list
        • Monocots
          • Orchids
            • Structure
          • Grasses
        • Dicots
          • Hebes
          • Kowhai
          • Coprosma
          • Beech
          • Rata
        • Carnivorous
        • Deciduous plants
        • Aquatic plants
      • Poisonous natives
      • Threatened plant lists
      • What's a vascular plant?
      • Club mosses
    • Non Vascular
      • Bryophytes
        • Liverworts
        • Mosses
        • Hornworts
      • Algae
        • Seaweeds
      • Lichens
    • Plant identification
      • Written descriptions
      • Experts
      • Plant keys
        • Key to parasitic plant genera
      • Collecting plants
        • Should I collect
        • Choosing a specimen
        • Field notes
        • Fresh plant material
        • Pressing and drying
        • Mounting specimens
        • Labelling specimens
    • Fungi
    • Make your own book
    • Quiz
  • Threats
    • Exotic Plants (Weeds)
      • Unwanted organisms
      • DOC weeds
      • Plant me instead
      • Pest Plant Accord
    • Pest Animals
      • Mammals
        • Mustelids
        • Rodents
        • Ungulates
        • Possums
      • Fish
      • Insects
    • Other threats
      • Natural events
        • Insects
      • Human induced
        • Habitat loss
        • Collection
        • Climate change
  • Ecosystems
    • Plant communities
      • Dunes
        • Volcanic
        • Coastal
          • Threats
          • Common species
          • Research on dunes
          • Pingao research
          • What you can do
      • Wetlands
        • Estuaries
          • Common estuarine species
          • Research on estuaries
        • Ephemeral
        • Restiad peat bogs
      • Forests
        • Kauri-podocarp-broadleaved
        • Podocarp broadleaved
        • Beech
      • Scrub/shrublands
        • Geothermal
          • Distribution of geothermal vegetation
          • Geothermal plants
          • Geothermal vegetation types
          • Threats to geothermal vegetation
        • Frost flat/hollow
        • Manuka fens
        • Gumlands
      • Grasslands
        • Tussock grasslands
      • Bare ground
        • Braided rivers
        • Alpine
        • Cliff
        • Scree and boulderfields
        • Shingle beaches
      • Herbfields
        • Saltpan
    • Ecosystem services
    • Novel ecosystems
  • Publications
    • Documents
    • Newsletter
    • Plant lists
      • Plant lists by region
      • Search tabulated plant lists
      • National plant lists
      • How to prepare a plant list
    • Botanical Society journals
    • NZPCN publications
  • Conservation
    • Seedbank
      • Project 1 - Pohutukawa, Rata and Myrtaceae
      • Project 2 - Alpine flora and the Forget-Me-Nots
      • Project 3 - Kowhai and its relatives
      • Project 4 - Podocarps and trees of the forest
    • Training
      • Module 1: Plant life
      • Module 2: Covenants
      • Module 3: Propagation
      • Module 4: Wetlands
      • Pilot course 2006
    • Restoration
      • Gardening
        • Being weed wise
        • Garden plants
          • Trees and shrubs
          • Broad-leaved herbs
          • Grass-like herbs
          • Climbers
          • Ferns
        • Attracting wildlife
        • Planting for lizards
          • Rules
      • Species recovery
        • Plant translocations
      • Ecological restoration
        • Case studies
          • Tavora Reserve
          • Waiwhakareke
      • Revegetation
      • Eco-sourcing
      • Find a restoration group
    • Monitoring
      • Number count
        • Number count method
        • Pros and cons of number counts
        • Data analysis and interpretation
      • Presence/absence surveys
        • Presence/absence survey methods
        • Pros and cons of presence/absence surveys
        • Data analysis and interpretation
      • Mapping spatial extent
        • Spatial extent mapping methods
        • Pros and cons of spatial extent mapping
        • Data analysis and interpretation
      • Photo points
        • Photo point guidelines
    • Habitat protection
      • Legal protection
        • Nga Whenua Rahui
        • QEII covenants
        • DOC Covenants
      • Animal pest control
      • Weed control
      • Fencing
    • Funding
    • Botanic gardens
    • Botanic Societies
  • NZPCN
    • News
    • Trilepidea newsletter
    • Events
      • 2024 AGM
      • Conference 2024
        • 2024 conference overview
        • Conference 2024 workshops
        • Conference 2024 Field Trips
        • 2024 conference sponsors
        • Conference 2024 accommodation options
        • 2024 Conference Programme
      • Conference 2022
        • Conference programme summary
        • 2022 conference workshops
        • 2022 conference field trips
        • Code of conduct
        • COVID-19 information
        • 2022 conference sponsors
        • Abstract and poster submission
        • 2022 Conference venue and accommodation
        • Conference Workshop: Restoration Pathways
        • 2022 conference postponement
      • Conference 2019
      • Conference 2017
      • Conference 2015
        • Speakers
        • Workshops
        • Field trips
        • Charity auction
      • Conference 2013
        • Speakers
        • Timetable
      • 2023 Restoration Pathways Workshop
      • 2023 AGM
    • David Given Scholarship
      • David Given Scholarship Recipients
    • Council members
      • NZPCN council member profiles
      • Council 2023
      • Council 2022
      • Council 2021
      • Council 2020
      • Council 2019
      • Council 2018
      • Council 2017
      • Council 2016
      • Council 2015
      • Council 2014
      • Council 2013
      • Council 2012
      • Council 2011
      • Council 2010
      • Council 2009
      • Council 2008
      • Council 2007
      • Council 2006
      • Council 2005
      • Council 2004
      • Council 2003
    • Awards
      • NZPCN Awards
        • 2024 Plant Conservation Awards
        • 2022
        • 2019
        • 2018
        • 2017
        • 2016
        • 2015
        • 2014
        • 2013
        • 2012
        • 2011
        • 2010
        • 2009
        • 2008
        • 2007
        • 2006
        • 2005
    • Shop
    • Donate
    • Favourite Plant
    • Why join NZPCN?
    • Join
  • Help
    • FAQ
      • Joining the Network
      • The Network
      • Network website
      • New Zealand plants
      • The law
      • Your discoveries
    • Query
    • Glossary
  • Contact us
  • Facebook