Classification
 Nomenclature
Scientific Name:
Veronica hulkeana F.Muell., Edinburgh New Philos. J. 14: 157 (1861) subsp. hulkeana
Synonymy:
  • Heliohebe hulkeana (F.Muell.) Garn.-Jones, New Zealand J. Bot. 31: 328 (1993) subsp. hulkeana
  • = Veronica hulkeana var. oblonga Kirk, Trans. New Zealand Inst. 28: 518 (1896)
  • Hebe hulkeana var. oblonga (Kirk) Cockayne & Allan, Trans. New Zealand Inst. 57: 44 (1926)
Neotype: Kowhai Creek. Kaikoura, Dec 10. 1889, T. Kirk, right-hand piece, WELT 5333, ex herb. T. Kirk
  • = Veronica lawtonii Lawton, J. Roy. Hort. Soc. 51: 313 (1926)
Lectotype (designated by Garnock-Jones 1993): Lawton, loco cit. fig. 73
 Description

Young stems densely glandular- or eglandular-puberulent, old stems glabrous. Leaf lamina narrowly to broadly lanceolate, ovate, oblong, or elliptic; apex acute, sub-acute, obtuse, rounded, or truncate. Distal branches of inflorescence puberulent or glandular-puberulent. Pedicels eglandular-puberulent, 0–0.5 mm long. Calyx 1.5–2.5 mm long; lobes elliptic to broadly obovoid, sub-acute or obtuse, eglandular-ciliate or with mixed glandular and eglandular cilia. Corolla lobes glabrous or sparsely ciliate.

 Recognition

Distinguished from subsp. evestita by densely puberulent young stems and inflorescences and the broadly rounded eglandular-ciliate calyx lobes.

 Distribution

South Island: Marlborough (from near Taylor Pass and Awatere Valley, Ward Beach, southwards to Seaward Kaikōura Range), Canterbury (Seaward Kaikōura Range, Oaro, Conway River, Leader River, Waiau River mouth, Mt Grey).

 Habitat

River gorges, coastal cliffs, rock outcrops. Recorded elevations range from 5 to 1281 m.

 Biostatus
Indigenous (Endemic)
 Hybridisation

In cultivation, plants of V. ×fairfieldii (V. hulkeana × lavaudiana, a cultivated hybrid) are often misidentified as V. hulkeana; these have dull, not glossy, leaves, and larger flowers with glandular hairs on the inflorescence.

 Phenology

Flowers: October–November; fruits: November–February.

 Cytology

2n = 42 (Hair 1967, as Hebe hulkeana).

 Bibliography
Bayly, M.J.; Kellow, A.V. 2006: An Illustrated Guide to New Zealand Hebes. Te Papa Press, Wellington. [as Heliohebe hulkeana (F.Muell.) Garn.-Jones subsp. hulkeana]
Cockayne, L.; Allan, H.H. 1926: The present taxonomic status of the New Zealand species of Hebe. Transactions of the New Zealand Institute 57: 11–47.
de Lange, P.J.; Rolfe, J.R.; Barkla J.W.; Courtney, S.P.; Champion, P.D.; Perrie, L.R.; Beadel, S.N.; Ford, K.A.; Breitwieser, I.; Schönberger, I.; Hindmarsh-Walls, R.; Heenan, P.B.; Ladley, K. 2018: Conservation status of New Zealand indigenous vascular plants, 2017. New Zealand Threat Classification Series. No. 22. [Not Threatened]
de Lange, P.J.; Rolfe, J.R.; Champion, P.D.; Courtney, S.P.; Heenan, P.B.; Barkla, J.W.; Cameron, E.K.; Norton, D.A.; Hitchmough, R.A. 2013: Conservation status of New Zealand indigenous vascular plants, 2012. New Zealand Threat Classification Series 3. Department of Conservation, Wellington. [as Heliohebe hulkeana (F.Muell.) Garn.-Jones subsp. hulkeana] [Not Threatened]
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. 2023: Veronica. In: Breitwieser, I. (ed.) Flora of New Zealand – Seed Plants. Fascicle 9. Manaaki Whenua Press, Lincoln.
Garnock-Jones, P.J.; Albach, D.; Briggs, B.G. 2007: Botanical names in Southern Hemisphere Veronica (Plantaginaceae): sect. Detzneria, sect. Hebe, and sect. Labiatoides. Taxon 56: 571–582.
Hair, J.B. 1967: Contributions to a chromosome atlas of the New Zealand flora — 10. Hebe (Scrophulariaceae). New Zealand Journal of Botany 5: 322–352.
Heads, M.J. 1994: A biogeographic review of Parahebe (Scrophulariaceae). Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 115: 65–89.
Kirk, T. 1896: Notes on certain Veronicas, and descriptions of new species. Transactions of the New Zealand Institute 28: 515–531.
Lawton, H.W. 1926: Journal of the Royal Horticultural Society 51: 176–313.
Mueller, F. 1861: Botanical Society of Edinburgh: Observation on some hitherto undescribed plants from New Zealand. Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal 14: 157–158.