Veronica pentasepala
Biostatus
Native – Endemic taxon
Category
Vascular
Structural class
Trees & Shrubs - Dicotyledons
Simplified description
Small shrub to 30 cm tall bearing pairs of glossy narrow fleshy red-edged leaves inhabiting rocky sites in inland Marlborough valleys. Leaves 10-30mm long by 4-8mm wide, on a short stalk. Flowers pinkish, in clusters to 7cm long.
Flower colours
Violet/Purple, White
Detailed description
Subshrub or shrub, 0.1-0.3(-0.45) m tall. Branches usually erect, sometimes ascending; branchlets red-brown, grey-brown with age; vegetative internodes (2-)4-10(-20) mm long; stem pubescence uniform, hairs eglandular, or rarely glandular hairs also present between leaf bases at nodes in cultivated plants only. Leaves erecto-patent to spreading; lamina oblanceolate or narrowly elliptic, coriaceous to fleshy, weakly folded, (7-)10-30 x (3-)4-8 mm; apex usually subacute, acute, or obtuse; base cuneate; margin red, rounded, smooth, serrate or rarely entire; adaxial surface glabrous, green to bronze green, glossy, with dense stomata; abaxial surface glabrous (or eglandular-hairy on midrib in occasional cultivated plants), green to pale green, dull, with dense stomata; midrib not thickened, depressed to grooved above. Petiole narrowly winged, 2-5(-8) mm long. Inflorescence with 20-200 flowers, (1-)2-7 cm long. Peduncle 0.5-1.0(-1.5) cm long; rachis 1-3(-5) cm long, pubescent; bracts subopposite to alternate, or opposite and decussate below, becoming alternate above, subacute to acute, eglandular-ciliate, deltoid. Pedicels eglandular-pubescent, very short or absent. Calyx divisions equally deep. Calyx 2.5-3.5 mm long; lobes 5, not all similar, ovate to deltoid, subacute, eglandular-ciliate. Corolla (6-)7-8 mm diameter, pink at anthesis, paler after pollination, throat pink; corolla tube 2.0-2.5 mm long, 1.0-1.5 mm wide, cylindric, slightly swollen at base, equalling or shorter than calyx, glabrous; corolla lobes glabrous; posterior lobe longer than tube, more or less circular, subacute, erect to spreading; lateral lobes broadly elliptic, subacute, spreading; anterior lobe elliptic, subacute, spreading. Stamen filaments white, inserted between middle and base of corolla tube, 2.0-2.5 mm long. Anthers pale yellow. Nectarial disk glandular-ciliate. Ovary globose, emarginate, glabrous, 0.8-1.2 x 0.8-0.9 mm, 0.5-0.6 mm thick. Ovules approximately 16 per locule. Style 5-7 mm long, approximately 0.25 mm thick, usually glabrous, sometimes with long glandular hairs, pink, becoming white with age. Stigma globose, pink at anthesis, 0.2-0.3 mm wide. Capsule angustiseptate to turgid, truncate to emarginate, dark brown, 3.5-4.0 x 2.5 mm, 2 mm thick, glabrous; loculicidal split extending 1/3-1/2-way to base. Seeds weakly flattened, winged, fusiform to obovoid or irregular, pale to reddish brown, smooth to weakly rugulose on back, (1.0-)1.5-2.5 x 0.8-1.0 mm.
Similar taxa
Similar to Veronica raoulii but Veronica pentasepala has a more erect habit, leaves widest at about the middle, and five free calyx lobes, the posterior one usually only slightly smaller than the others.
Distribution
Endemic. South Island – Marlborough inland valleys
Habitat
Cliffs, rocks, rocky slopes, steep grassland, often on limestone, 300-1450 m.
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
Genus
Family
Synonyms
Hebe raoulii var. pentasepala L.B.Moore, Parahebe raoulii subsp. pentasepala (L.Moore) Heads; Heliohebe pentasepala (L.B.Moore) Garn.-Jones
Endemic taxon
Yes
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
Ecology
Flowering
September-November
Fruiting
December-February
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’.
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.
VERPEN
Chromosome number
2n = 42
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
Garnock-Jones, P.J. 1993: Heliohebe (Scrophulariaceae Veroniceae), a new genus segregated from Hebe. New Zealand Journal of Botany 31: 323-339.
Garnock-Jones, P.J.; Albach, D.; Briggs, B.G. 2007: Botanical names in Southern Hemisphere Veronica (Plantaginaceae): sect. Detzneria, ect. Hebe, and sect. Labiatoides. Taxon 56: 571-582
Attribution
Description adapted by M. Ward from Garnock-Jones, P.J. 1993: Heliohebe (Scrophulariaceae Veroniceae), a new genus segregated from Hebe. New Zealand Journal of Botany 31: 333-333. © The Royal Society of New Zealand, reprinted by permission of Taylor & Francis Ltd, www.tandfonline.com on behalf of The Royal Society of New Zealand.