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 phormiiphila

Veronica phormiiphila

Hebe paludosa.<br>Photographer: David A. Norton, Licence: <a target='_blank' href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0'>CC BY-NC</a>.
Hebe paludosa habit.<br>Photographer: David A. Norton, 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 Te Papa View specimens Herbarium View AVH specimens Donate Support NZPCN

Common names

hebe

Biostatus

Native – Endemic taxon

Category

Vascular

Structural class

Trees & Shrubs - Dicotyledons

Simplified description

Bushy shrub bearing pairs of narrow pointed leaves and long white flower spikes inhabiting West Coast wetlands. Twigs hairy. Leaves to 86mm long by 14mm wide, gradually tapering to tip, margin hairy (lens needed). Leaf bud with small gap at base. Flowers white, narrow, in spikes to 19cm long.

Flower colours

White

Detailed description

Bushy shrub to 5 m tall. Branches erect, old stems red-brown; branchlets green or red-brown, puberulent, hairs uniform (mostly) or bifarious; internodes 6-26 mm; leaf decurrencies obscure. Leaf bud distinct; sinus square to oblong, or small and rounded. Leaves erecto-patent (mostly) to patent (with age); lamina linear-lanceolate (mostly) or linear-elliptic, subcoriaceous, slightly m-shaped in transverse section, 30-86 x 5.5-11 (-14) mm; apex acuminate; brochidodromous secondary veins evident in fresh leaves; margin cartilaginous, minutely pubescent (with eglandular and sometimes glandular hairs), distantly denticulate or entire; upper surface dark green or yellowish-green, dull, with few stomata (not readily visible in fresh leaves), hairy along midrib and sometimes covered with minute glandular hairs (but these hairs usually not readily visible, even at high magnification); lower surface light green, hairy along midrib; petiole (1-) 2-3 (-4) mm, hairy along margins and above and below. Inflorescences with approximately 100-150 flowers, lateral, unbranched (one aberrant inflorescence seen with a single branch at base), 9.3-19 cm; peduncle 1.8-4cm, hairy (sometimes very sparsely); rachis 7.5-15 cm. Bracts alternate, linear or narrowly deltoid, subacute or acuminate, sometimes hairy outside (especially lowermost). Flowers hermaphrodite. Pedicels longer than or equal to bracts, (1-) 2-4 (-5) mm, sometimes recurved in fruit. Calyx (1.5-) 2-3 (-3.5) mm; lobes ovate or lanceolate or oblong or deltoid, obtuse to acute or acuminate. Corolla tube hairy inside and sometimes outside (around base of corolla lobes), 2.3-3.5 x 1.9-2.1 mm, shortly cylindric, longer than (usually) or equalling calyx; lobes white or tinged mauve at anthesis, lanceolate, obtuse or subacute, erect to suberect, longer than corolla tube, sometimes with a few hairs toward base on inner surface. Stamen filaments diverging with age (but probably erect for some time after anthesis), 6.5-8.5 mm; anthers purple or blue, 1.7-2.2 mm. Ovary sometimes sparsely hairy (especially near apex), 0.8-1.1 mm; ovules 12-16 per locule, in 1-2 layers; style 7-7.5 mm, sometimes sparsely hairy. Capsules obtuse or truncate or subacute, 3-4 x 2-2.5 mm, sometimes hairy, loculicidal split extending ¼-½-way to base. Seeds flattened (sometimes strongly), ellipsoid to discoid, not winged to only weakly winged, straw-yellow to pale brown, 0.8-1.3 x (0.6-) 0.7-1.1 mm, micropylar rim 0.2-0.3 mm.

Similar taxa

A recently recognised species (Norton & de Lange 1998) based on \/. salicifolia var. paludosa (Cockayne 1916). It was included in Hebe salicifolia by Moore (in Allan 1961), but with the suggestion that it might be a hybrid between that species and H. gracillima (now V. leiophylla). It is generally distinguished from V. salicifolia, with which it co-occurs, by its narrower, more evenly tapered leaves, conspicuously hairy branchlets (although branchlets of V. salicifolia vary from glabrous to bifariously or uniformly hairy), usual wetland habitat, and chromosome number (2n = 80, rather than 40). Differences from V. leiophylla are less clear-cut. V. phormiiphila generally has longer and more tapered leaves than V. leiophylla, but that species sometimes has similar leaves, and some short-leaved specimens of V. phormiiphila (e.g. CANU 35236) are scarcely different from many specimens of V. leiophylla. Because of the similarity between V. phormiiphila and V. leiophylla, defining the northern limit of the former (and southwest limit of the latter) is difficult, and requires further assessment.

Distribution

Endemic to Westland and northwest Otago, South Island, from the Grey Valley in the north to Big Bay in the south.

Habitat

It usually grows in lowland, mesotrophic wetlands.

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 phormiiphila Garn.-Jones

Synonyms

Veronica salicifolia var. paludosa Cockayne, Hebe salicifolia var. paludosa (Cockayne) Cockayne et Allan, Hebe paludosa (Cockayne) D.A.Norton et de Lange

Taxonomic notes

In Bayly & Kellow (2006) the same northern limit is given for V. phormiiphila as Norton & de Lange (1998) but refer plants from some nearby localities to V. leiophylla. Limited study of leaf flavonoids (Mitchell et al. 2007) suggests that V. phormiiphila has a profile distinguished from, but roughly intermediate between, those of V. leiophylla and V. salicifolia. The possibilities that V. phormiiphila is recently derived from V. leiophylla or V. salicifolia, might be a stable hybrid between them, or may intergrade with one or other of them (particularly V. leiophylla, as suggested by Wardle 1975, using the name H. gracillima), are worthy of further investigation.

Endemic taxon

Yes

Endemic genus

No

Endemic family

No

Ecology

Flowering

January (-March)

Fruiting

March-May

Life cycle and dispersal

Seeds are wind dispersed (Thorsen et al., 2009).

Wetland plant indicator status rating

Information derived from the revised national wetland plant list prepared to assist councils in delineating and monitoring wetlands (Clarkson et al., 2021 Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research Contract Report LC3975 for Hawke’s Bay Regional Council). The national plant list categorises plants by the extent to which they are found in wetlands and not ‘drylands’. The indicator status ratings are OBL (obligate wetland), FACW (facultative wetland), FAC (facultative), FACU (facultative upland), and UPL (obligate upland). If you have suggestions for the Wetland Indicator Status Rating, please contact: [Enable JavaScript to view protected content]

FACW: Facultative Wetland

Usually is a hydrophyte but occasionally found in uplands (non-wetlands).

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.

VERPHO

Chromosome number

2n = 80

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. 270.

Cockayne, L. 1916. Notes on New Zealand floristic botany, including descriptions of new species, &c. (No. 1). Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute 48: 193-202.

Mitchell, K. A., Kellow, A. V., Bayly, M. J., Markham, K. R., Brownsey, P. J., & Garnock‐Jones, P. J. 2007. Composition and distribution of leaf flavonoids in Hebe and Leonohebe (Plantaginaceae) in New Zealand—2. “Apertae”, “Occlusae”, and “Grandiflorae”. New Zealand Journal of Botany, 45(2), 329-392.

Norton, D. A. and de Lange, P.J. 1998. Hebe paludosa (Scrophulariaceae) - a new combination for an endemic wetland Hebe from Westland, South Island, New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Botany 36:531-8.

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

Wardle, P. 1975. Vascular plants of Westland National Park (New Zealand) and neighbouring lowland and coastal areas. New Zealand Journal of Botany 13: 497-545.

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 phormiiphila Fact Sheet (content continuously updated). New Zealand Plant Conservation Network. https://www.nzpcn.org.nz/flora/species/veronica-phormiiphila/ (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