Veronica lanceolata Benth.

Sub-shrub to 0.45 m tall. Stems prostrate to erect, eglandular-pubescent or glabrous; hairs bifarious, rarely uniform. Leaf bud indistinct; leaves separating while very small, opposite-decussate, or sub-distichous on prostrate stems, erecto-patent to spreading or recurved; lamina sub-coriaceous or coriaceous, linear, lanceolate, ovate, elliptic, orbicular, rhomboid, or deltoid, rarely obovate or oblanceolate, 5–100 mm long, 1.5–25.0 mm wide, dull or glossy pale to dark green above, dull pale green or green or pinkish beneath; midrib and sometimes secondary veins evident; surfaces glabrous, sometimes with eglandular hairs along midrib above; margins glabrous, serrate; teeth in 1–15 pairs; apex sub-acute to acuminate, rarely obtuse; base cuneate, truncate, or sub-cordate; petiole 1–6 mm long. Inflorescence a lateral raceme, 30–350 mm long; flowers distant, 4–30, all bisexual; bracts alternate, linear, lanceolate, elliptic, ovate, or narrowly deltoid, < pedicels; pedicels erecto-patent, incurved at fruiting, 5–25 mm long, eglandular-hairy all around, rarely glabrous or glandular-hairy. Calyx lobes 4, obtuse to acuminate, 2–4 mm long, sub-equal, glandular- and/or eglandular-ciliate, occasionally pubescent on abaxial surfaces. Corolla 8–15 mm diameter; tube white and yellow, 0.5–1.5 mm long, < calyx, eglandular-hairy inside; lobes white, usually 4 or rarely 5 by division of posterior lobe, erecto-patent to spreading, unequal, narrowly oblong or elliptic to orbicular, 3.5–8.0 mm long, rounded, sometimes posterior emarginate; nectar guides magenta. Stamen filaments white, 2–4 mm long; anthers pink or magenta. Style glabrous, 3.5–7.0 mm long. Capsules angustiseptate to turgid, emarginate, glabrous, 2.5–4.5 mm long, 2.5–4.0 mm at widest point. Seeds discoid to obovoid, flattened, smooth, straw-yellow to brown, 0.5–1.1 mm long.

V. lanceolata is a highly variable species, and some of the regional variants can be hard to distinguish from other species in the speedwell hebe group. 

Large plants with coarsely toothed leaves may resemble V. catarractae, but that species is endemic to Fiordland and can be distinguished by its white leaf undersides and pedicel hairs in a single row. 

Smaller low-growing plants with broader leaves can resemble V. melanocaulon, which is endemic to Marlborough and can be distinguished by usually obovate or oblanceolate leaves, usually glabrous or sometimes glandular inflorescences, and very dark purplish-black stems that contrast with the pale green petioles. 

Small plants with short, broad leaves may resemble V. lyallii, but V. lyallii plants have shorter inflorescences, more rounded leaf teeth, and markedly arcuate, antrorse stem hairs; sometimes their flowers lack nectar guides and their leaves can be bronze-green. V. lyallii is confined to the South Island.

Rock outcrops, especially on stream and river banks, rooted in silt in crevices, also on cliffs, ledges, and screes. Recorded elevations range from 10 to 1708 m.

Garnock-Jones & Lloyd (2004) considered that plants with broad leaves and densely glandular inflorescences from mountains of the Volcanic Plateau might be the result of introgression with V. hookeriana.  Similarly, plants on Mt Hikurangi and the Maungaharuru Range appear to intergrade with local forms of V. hookeriana to some extent.

Flowers: November–March; fruits: January–May, and old fruits present year round.

2n = 42 (Garnock-Jones & Langer 1980, as Parahebe catarractae). Hair reported the same number (as Parahebe catarractae) from a cultivated plant of unknown origin and a plant from Mt Ruapehu that I have identified as V. hookeriana × lanceolata.

Veronica lanceolata is classified in V. subg. Pseudoveronica sect. Hebe (Albach & Meudt 2010). Molecular phylogenetics (Albach & Meudt 2010) placed V. lanceolata firmly within the speedwell hebe clade, along with other species of Veronica that are characterised by lax inflorescences, short corolla tubes, nectar guides, plicate lateral corolla lobes, attenuate stamen filament bases, and turgid capsules, but the internal relationships within that clade are not clearly established.

Garnock-Jones & Lloyd (2004) described nine regional races in detail. These were not treated formally as subspecies or varieties because they are not clear-cut, tend to vary within and among populations, and overlap with each other in their morphological features.

(See: Regional variation in Veronica lanceolata​​​​​​​)