Veronica mooreae
Common names
Moore’s hebe
Biostatus
Native
Category
Vascular
Structural class
Trees & Shrubs - Dicotyledons
Simplified description
Low-growing bushy shrub bearing pairs of narrow leaves with a rough margin (lens needed) and an abrupt shoulder at the leaf stalk, inhabiting western South Island mountains. Leaves 14-18mm long, with ridge along underside. Leaf bud with triangular gap between leaves at base. Flower spike near tip of twig.
Flower colours
White
Detailed description
Spreading low or bushy shrub to 1.2 (-2) m tall. Branches erect, old stems brown; branchlets green, pubescent (with somewhat strap-like, white, multicellular hairs often more or less appressed and upward-facing), hairs bifarious; internodes 1-4 (-8) mm; leaf decurrencies swollen and extended for length of internode (usually somewhat saddle-shaped); leaves abscising above nodes and lower part of petioles remaining attached to stem. Leaf bud distinct; sinus broad and shield-shaped. Leaves erecto-patent; lamina oblong or oblong-elliptic or oblong-lanceolate, rigid, slightly concave, (7-) 14-18 (-28) x (3-) 4-6 (-8) mm; apex acute or subacute; base cuneate (mostly) or truncate; midrib thickened below and depressed to grooved above (but not necessarily prominent on upper surface); margin glabrous, minutely crenulate; upper surface dark green, glossy, without evident stomata (usually) or with many stomata (on plants from Caswell Sound or Denniston Plateau), glabrous; lower surface dark green; petiole 1-3 mm, glabrous. Inflorescences with 3-13 flowers, lateral, unbranched, 0.8-2.9 cm, shorter to longer than subtending leaves; peduncle 0.1-0.5cm; rachis 0.7-2.6 cm. Bracts opposite and decussate, connate, ovate or deltoid, obtuse or subacute. Flowers hermaphrodite. Pedicels absent or when present always shorter than bracts, 0-1 mm. Calyx 3.3-4.5 mm, with anterior lobes free for most of their length or united to 1/3-way to apex; lobes lanceolate or ovate, subacute or obtuse, eglandular ciliolate or with mixed glandular and eglandular cilia (can vary on calyces from one plant). Corolla tube hairy inside or glabrous, approximately 4 x 2.4-2.6 mm, funnelform (narrowly) and contracted at base, equalling or longer than calyx; lobes white at anthesis, elliptic (often broadly) or lanceolate (anterior only), obtuse. patent to recurved, longer to shorter than corolla tube, sparsely hairy inside. Stamen filaments 3-4 mm; anthers pink (often faintly). Ovary ovoid or ellipsoid or globose, 1-1.3 mm; ovules 8-15 per locule; style 5.5-8.5 mm. Capsules subacute or obtuse, 3.5-4.5 x 2-2.8 mm, loculicidal split extending 1/4-way to base. Seeds flattened, more or less broad ellipsoid, more or less winged, more or less smooth, pale brown, 1.2-1.8 x 0.9-1.2 mm, micropylar rim approximately 0.4 mm.
Similar taxa
Veronica mooreae can be distinguished from similar species of “Buxifoliatae” (see Bayly & Kellow 2006) by having a combination of: bracts not extending beyond tips of calyces; inflorescences that are strictly lateral; no stomata on the upper leaf surface, except in some specimens from the Caswell Sound (Fiordland) and Denniston Plateau (Nelson) areas; leaves that are sharply keeled beneath (along the midrib) throughout their length; leaf buds that are usually not closely surrounded by several imbricate leaf pairs (particularly when compared with V. masoniae and V. pauciramosa); anterior calyx lobes that are usually free, but may be united up to 1/3 the way to the apex; and corolla lobes that are comparatively broad relative to their length (particularly when compared with V. odora and V. pauciramosa). An often-conspicuous feature of V. mooreae is possession of strongly crenulate leaf margins. This feature is not, however, evident on all specimens, and is also seen on some specimens of V. odora.
Distribution
Widespread in the South Island, from the Wakamarama Range in the north to the Longwood Range in the south, chiefly on the wetter mountains west of the Main Divide.
Habitat
Mostly in penalpine grassland and subalpine shrubland.
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
Leonohebe mooreae Heads var. mooreae, Leonohebe mooreae var. telmata Heads, Hebe mooreae (Heads) Garn.-Jones
Endemic taxon
Yes
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
Ecology
Flowering
November-February (-June)
Fruiting
January-June (-December)
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’.
mooreae: Honours Lucy B. Moore (1906-87), former botanist at DSIR Botany Division, who prepared most of the last comprehensive treatment of Hebe (in Allan 1961).
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.
VERMOO
Chromosome number
2n = 126
Previous conservation statuses
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 218 pp.
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 mooreae Fact Sheet (content continuously updated). New Zealand Plant Conservation Network. https://www.nzpcn.org.nz/flora/species/veronica-mooreae/ (Date website was queried)