Class
Order
Family
Genus
Classification
Nomenclature
Scientific Name:
Veronica petriei (Buchanan) Kirk, Trans. New Zealand Inst. 28: 517 (1896)
Synonymy:
- ≡ Mitrasacme petriei Buchanan, Trans. & Proc. New Zealand Inst. 14: 349 (1882)
- ≡ Hebe petriei (Buchanan) Cockayne & Allan, Trans. New Zealand Inst. 57: 42 (1926)
- ≡ Leonohebe petriei (Buchanan) Heads, Bot. Soc. Otago Newsl. 5: 6 (1987)
Lectotype (designated by Moore, in Allan 1961): WELT in Herb. Buchanan, Petrie 1881 [cited by Moore as being in OTM, where Herb. Buchanan resided at the time]. Probable Isolectotypes: WELT 5118, WELT 5119, AK 8283
Etymology:
Description
Sub-shrub or spreading low shrub to 0.3 m tall. Stems decumbent, glabrous or eglandular-puberulent; hairs bifarious. Leaf bud distinct, its outer leaves fully grown, diverging but leaving a narrow, acute sinus at the base. Leaves opposite-decussate to sub-distichous, shortly connate in pairs and encircling stem, erecto-patent to recurved; lamina sub-coriaceous, obovate, oblong, elliptic, or narrow elliptic, 4–12 mm long, 2.0–5.5 mm wide, dull or slightly glossy green above and beneath; midrib weak; surfaces glabrous or eglandular-hairy near base above; margin glabrous or minutely ciliolate especially towards base, entire, sometimes reddish; apex obtuse to rounded; base cuneate; petiole indistinct, 0.5–3.0 mm long. Inflorescence a terminal raceme, 8–60 mm long; flowers crowded, 18–62 per inflorescence, female or bisexual on separate plants, ⚥ > ♀; bracts alternate, the lower sterile, linear to lanceolate, > pedicels; pedicels erect to erecto-patent, 0.5–2.5 mm long, mixed eglandular- and glandular-puberulent all around. Calyx lobes 4–5, acute to acuminate, 3.5–6.0 mm long, sub-equal to unequal, ciliolate with glandular or eglandular or mixed hairs. Corolla 5–8 mm diameter; tube white, 2.5–7.0 mm long, ≥ calyx, glabrous; lobes 4, white, sub-erect to recurved, sub-equal or unequal, linear to narrowly elliptic, posterior sometimes sub-orbicular, 2.5–4.0 mm long, sub-acute to obtuse, posterior sometimes emarginate; nectar guides absent. Stamen filaments white, 1.3–1.7 mm long; anthers magenta. Style glabrous, 3–6 mm long. Capsules latiseptate, acute or acuminate, glabrous, 4.0–4.5 mm long, 1.7–2.5 mm at widest point. Seeds ellipsoid to discoid, flattened, smooth, pale brown or brown, 0.7–1.1 mm long.
Recognition
murrellii | petriei | |
Stem | glabrous or broadly bifariously puberulent | glabrous or puberulent at connate leaf bases |
Leaf bases | barely connate for 0.2–0.5 mm | connate for c. 0.5 mm |
Floral bracts | 3.5–5 × 1.7–2 mm, ovate to elliptic, usually all subtending flowers | 5–7 × 1–1.5 mm, linear to lanceolate, usually numerous sterile ones at base of inflorescence |
Calyx lobes | 4; 2.5–4 mm long, linear, lanceolate or narrowly elliptic, subacute to obtuse | 4–5, 3.5–6 mm long, linear to narrowly ovate, acute to acuminate |
Corolla tube | 1.5–2 mm long, funnelform | 3–6 mm long, cylindric |
Corolla lobes | elliptic to orbicular | linear to narrowly elliptic, posterior sometimes suborbicular |
Anthers | exserted, purple | presented at corolla throat, magenta |
Distribution
South Island: Westland (east of the Main Divide in the far south only), Otago, Southland, from catchments at the head of Lake Wakatipu to the Pisa, Livingston, Eyre, Garvie, and Takitimu Mountains.
Habitat
Alpine rocks and scree. Recorded elevations range from 1040 to 1846 m.
Biostatus
Indigenous (Endemic)
Phenology
Flowers: October–March (mostly December–February); fruits: November–March.
Cytology
2n = 42 (see Bayly & Kellow 2006, as Hebe petriei).
Notes
Veronica petriei is classified in V. subg. Pseudoveronica sect. Hebe and the informal group “Connatae” (Albach & Meudt 2010; Bayly & Kellow 2006). However, ITS sequence data indicate that V. petriei is an early lineage that diverges near the base of the shrubby hebe clade (Wagstaff et al. 2002; Meudt et al. 2015). It and V. murrellii appear not to be closely related to other “Connatae”.
The inflorescence indumentum is variable, especially on the bracts, which can be densely glandular-puberulent at the base or glabrous.
Images
Bibliography
Albach, D.C.; Meudt, H.M. 2010: Phylogeny of Veronica in the Southern and Northern Hemispheres based on plastid, nuclear ribosomal and nuclear low-copy DNA. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 54: 457–471.
Bayly, M.J.; Kellow, A.V. 2006: An Illustrated Guide to New Zealand Hebes. Te Papa Press, Wellington.
Buchanan, J. 1882: On the alpine flora of New Zealand. Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute 14: 342–356.
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. [Naturally Uncommon]
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 Hebe petriei (Buchanan) Cockayne & Allan] [Not Threatened]
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.
Heads, M. 1987: New names in New Zealand Scrophulariaceae. Botanical Society of Otago Newsletter 5: 4–11.
Kellow, A.V.; Bayly, M.J.; Mitchell, K.A.; Markham, K.R.; Brownsey, P.J. 2003: A taxonomic revision of Hebe informal group "Connateae" (Plantaginaceae), based on morphology and flavonoid chemistry. New Zealand Journal of Botany 41(4): 613–635.
Kirk, T. 1896: Notes on certain Veronicas, and descriptions of new species. Transactions of the New Zealand Institute 28: 515–531.
Meudt, H.M.; Rojas-Andrés, B.M.; Prebble, J.M.; Low, E.; Garnock-Jones, P.J.; Albach, D.C. 2015: Is genome downsizing associated with diversification in polyploid lineages of Veronica? Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 178: 243–266.
Wagstaff, S.J.; Bayly, M.J.; Garnock-Jones, P.J.; Albach, D.C. 2002: Classification, origin, and diversification of the New Zealand Hebes (Scrophulariaceae). Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden 89: 3–63.
