Classification
 Nomenclature
Scientific Name:
Veronica pubescens subsp. rehuarum (Bayly & de Lange) Garn.-Jones in Garnock-Jones et al., Taxon 56: 578 (2007)
Synonymy:
  • Hebe pubescens subsp. rehuarum Bayly & de Lange in Bayly et al., New Zealand J. Bot. 41: 40 (2003)
Holotype: New Zealand, North Auckland, Great Barrier (Aotea) Island, Port Fitzroy, Rarohara Bay, Old Lady Track, Lookout Rock, P. J. de Lange 5192, 29 Mar 2001, WELT 82548. Isotypes: AK, CHR, K, MEL, WAIK, BM
Etymology:
The epithet rehuarum honours Ngāti Rehua, the iwi who exercise mana whenua over Great Barrier I. (Aotea I.), where the subspecies grows.
 Description

Low and spreading to erect shrubs to c. 1.5 m tall. Branchlets uniformly puberulent or glabrous; hairs very short. Leaf bud sinus small, rounded. Leaves lanceolate, narrowly elliptic, or linear-lanceolate, sub-coriaceous to coriaceous, 25–65 mm long, 7–19 mm wide, dark to yellowish-green above; midrib glabrous or sometimes puberulent to pubescent; surface beneath glabrous; margins puberulent to pubescent, sometimes glabrous towards apex. Inflorescence 55–100 mm long. Calyx lobes usually glabrous on outer surfaces, or sometimes hairy. Corolla tube 2.7–3.9 mm long; lobes often glabrous outside or sometimes hairy. Ovary and capsules glabrous to sparsely hairy, especially along septal grooves; capsules 3.0–4.5 mm long.

 Recognition

Three other hebes, V. parviflora, V. macrocarpa, and V. stricta, occur on Great Barrier I. (Aotea I.).

Plants of V. parviflora differ in their leaf bud lacking a sinus, and shorter and narrower leaves, usually no more than 7 mm wide. Their flowers have a long corolla tube with short, rounded, spreading to recurved corolla lobes.

Plants of V. macrocarpa lack a leaf bud sinus, and have larger and more robust flowers with rounded corolla lobes, and larger fruits; on Great Barrier I. (Aotea I.) most have purple corollas and calyx lobes that are rounded and brownish.

Plants of V. stricta lack a leaf bud sinus and tend to have shorter, narrower, and more erect corolla lobes.

 Habitat

Coastal sites and inland in rocky places. Recorded elevations range from 0 to 400 m.

 Biostatus
Indigenous (Endemic)
 Phenology

Flowers: August–April; fruits: September–May, persisting all year.

 Cytology

2n = 40 (see Bayly & Kellow 2006, as Hebe pubescens subsp. rehuarum).

 Bibliography
Bayly, M.J.; Kellow, A.V. 2006: An Illustrated Guide to New Zealand Hebes. Te Papa Press, Wellington.
Bayly, M.J.; Kellow, A.V.; de Lange, P.J.; Mitchell, K.A.; Markham, K.R.; Garnock-Jones, P.J.; Brownsey, P.J. 2003: Geographic variation in morphology and flavonoid chemistry in Hebe pubescens and Hebe bollonsii (Scrophulariaceae), including a new infraspecific classification for H. pubescens. New Zealand Journal of Botany 41(1): 23–53.
de Lange, P.J.; Norton, D.A.; Courtney, S.P.; Heenan, P.B.; Barkla, J.W.; Cameron, E.K.; Hitchmough, R.; Townsend, A.J. 2009: Threatened and uncommon plants of New Zealand (2008 revision). New Zealand Journal of Botany 47: 61–96. [as Hebe pubescens subsp. rehuarum Bayly & de Lange] [Naturally uncommon]
de Lange, P.J.; Norton, D.A.; Heenan, P.B.; Courtney, S.P.; Molloy, B.P.J.; Ogle, C.C.; Rance, B.D. 2004: Threatened and uncommon plants of New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Botany 42(1): 45–76. [as Hebe pubescens subsp. rehuarum Bayly & de Lange]
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 pubescens subsp. rehuarum Bayly & de Lange] [Naturally Uncommon]
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.