Veronica strictissima
Common names
Banks Peninsula hebe
Biostatus
Native
Category
Vascular
Structural class
Trees & Shrubs - Dicotyledons
Simplified description
Bushy shrub bearing pairs of long narrow leaves and spikes of white flowers inhabiting Banks Peninsula. Leaves to 49mm long by 8mm wide, hardly narrowing to blunt tip, margin hairy (lens needed). Leaf bud with no gap at base. Flower spikes to 11cm long.
Flower colours
White
Detailed description
Bushy shrub to 2.5 m tall. Branches erect, old stems brown or grey; branchlets olive-green or red-brown, minutely puberulent (usually) or glabrous, hairs bifarious; internodes (1-) 2-13 (-18) mm; leaf decurrencies evident to obscure (often with narrow ridges along medial line and margins). Leaf bud distinct; sinus absent. Leaves erecto-patent to patent; lamina linear-lanceolate or narrowly oblong, subcoriaceous, flat or concave, (9-) 16-41 (-49) x 3-7 (-8) mm; apex acute to subacute or shortly apiculate; 2 lateral secondary veins sometimes evident at base of fresh leaves; margin sometimes more or less cartilaginous, usually eglandular puberulent or sometimes glabrous; upper surface green, dull, with many stomata, hairy along midrib or glabrous; lower surface light green. Inflorescences with (11-) 20-72 flowers, lateral, unbranched, 1.7-7.7 (-10.7) cm, almost always longer than or very rarely about equal to subtending leaves; peduncle (0.3-) 0.4-1 (-1.5) cm; rachis 1.2-6.5 (-9.2) cm. Bracts alternate, ovate or deltoid (sometimes narrowly), obtuse (mostly) to acute. Flowers hermaphrodite or female (on different plants). Pedicels 1-4 mm, hairy (indumentum sometimes sparse when compared with that of peduncle and rachis). Calyx 1.5-2 (-2.5) mm; lobes ovate, obtuse. Corolla tube hairy inside; tube of hermaphrodite flowers 1.4-2.9 x 1.3-1.7 mm, funnelform, equalling or slightly longer than calyx; tube of female flowers approximately 1.3-1.8 mm, funnelform, equalling or slightly longer than calyx; lobe, white or tinged deep mauve at anthesis, circular or elliptic (often broadly) or oblong (anterior only), obtuse (posterior sometimes emarginate), suberect to recurved, longer to shorter than corolla tube (posterior lobe always longer than tube, anterior lobe often shorter than tube). Stamen filaments incurved at apex in bud, 3-5 mm; anthers dark magenta or purple, 1.2-1.8 mm; sterile anthers of female flowers purple or light brown. Ovary sometimes hairy, 0.9-1.3 mm; ovules 11-16 per locule, in 1-2 layers; style 2.3-6 mm, sometimes hairy. Capsules subacute or obtuse, 2.9-4 x approximately 2.2-2.6 mm, occasionally hairy, loculicidal split extending up to ¾-way to base. Seeds flattened, more or less broad ellipsoid, not winged to only weakly winged, brown, 1-1.6 x (0.8-) 0.9-1.3 mm, micropylar rim 0.1-0.4 mm.
Similar taxa
Similar to V. traversii, V. stenophylla and V. parviflora, from which it is distinguished by (among other features) having corolla tubes equal to or only slightly exceeding surrounding calyces. The only other Veronicas on Banks Peninsula are V. salicifolia and V. odora.
Distribution
Endemic, South Island. Banks Peninsula and the Port Hills.
Habitat
Grows mostly in open areas on banks and bluffs, or in scrub.
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 | At Risk – Naturally Uncommon | Qualifiers: RR
Detailed taxonomy
Family
Plantaginaceae
Synonyms
Veronica parviflora var. strictissima Kirk, Veronica leiophylla var. strictissima (Kirk) Cockayne, Hebe leiophylla var. strictissima (Kirk) Cockayne et Allan, Hebe strictissima (Kirk) L.B.Moore
Taxonomic notes
Moore (in Allan 1961) suggests the species may form hybrids with H. salicifolia, and a specimen potentially matching this parentage is WELT 84066. Aspects of reproductive ecology arc discussed by Delph (1990).
Endemic taxon
Yes
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
Ecology
Flowering
December-March (-June)
Fruiting
(January-) March-April (-June)
Life cycle
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’.
strictissima: Very straight and narrow
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.
VERSTS
Chromosome number
2n = 80
Previous conservation statuses
2017 | At Risk – Naturally Uncommon | Qualifiers: RR
2012 | At Risk – Naturally Uncommon | Qualifiers: RR
2009 | At Risk – Naturally Uncommon
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. 176.
Delph, L. F. 1990. Sex ratio variation in the gynodioecious shrub Hebe strictissima Scrophulariaceae).
Evolution. 44: I 34-42.
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 strictissima Fact Sheet (content continuously updated). New Zealand Plant Conservation Network. https://www.nzpcn.org.nz/flora/species/veronica-strictissima/ (Date website was queried)