Veronica masoniae (L.B.Moore) Garn.-Jones

Shrub to 0.5 m tall. Stems decumbent or ascending to erect, eglandular-pubescent; hairs bifarious. Leaf bud distinct, its leaves appressed at margins until fully grown; sinus broadly shield-shaped. Leaves opposite-decussate, erecto-patent to spreading; lamina coriaceous, rigid, oblong to broadly oblong, to elliptic to sub-orbicular, 3–10 mm long, 4–8 mm wide, glossy green to dark green above and beneath, sometimes yellowish, especially on margins; midrib beneath and occasionally two faint lateral veins evident; surfaces glabrous; margin smooth or minutely papillate distally, ciliolate when young, entire; apex obtuse and slightly apiculate; base truncate to sub-cordate; petiole 1–2 mm long. Inflorescence a simple or compound terminal spike, 8–18 mm long; flowers crowded, 2–14, all bisexual; bracts opposite-decussate and connate, elliptic to sub-orbicular or rhomboid, ≥ calyx; pedicels absent. Calyx lobes 4, obtuse to sub-acute, 5.0–6.5 mm long, unequal, eglandular-ciliate, rarely with a few glandular hairs as well. Corolla 10–15 mm diameter; tube white, 4.5–6.0 mm long, = or slightly > calyx, eglandular-hairy in tube, with small glandular hairs at throat; lobes 4, white, sometimes purplish or pink, erecto-patent to recurved, sub-equal, elliptic to broadly obovate or sub-orbicular, 5–7 mm long, rounded; nectar guides absent. Stamen filaments white 5–8 mm long; anthers magenta. Style glabrous, 7–9 mm long. Capsules latiseptate, sub-acute to obtuse, glabrous, 4–5 mm long, 3.5–4.0 mm at widest point. Seeds ellipsoid to circular, flattened, smooth, pale brown, 1.5–2.1 mm long.

Sub-alpine to penalpine tussock grassland, carpet grass (Chionochloa australis) and low scrub, sometimes in wet sites. Recorded elevations range from 769 to 1553 m.

Flowers: October–April; fruits: January–May (sometimes persisting until November).

2n = 118 (see Bayly & Kellow 2006, as Hebe masoniae).

Veronica masoniae is classified in V. subg. Pseudoveronica sect. Hebe and the informal group “Buxifoliatae” (Albach & Meudt 2010; Bayly & Kellow 2006). Although V. masoniae resembles V. pauciramosa (with which it was included until 1987) and V. odora, analysis of ITS sequence data (E.M. Low, unpublished) places it among a large and poorly resolved clade of shrubby hebes that mostly have 2n = 40, 80, 120. Further research to clarify its position and origins is needed.

Flowers of both V. masoniae and V. pauciramosa have characteristic dark red stigmas.