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Classification
Nomenclature
Scientific Name:
Veronica pimeleoides Hook.f., Bot. Antarct. Voy. II. (Fl. Nov.-Zel.) Part I, 195 (1853) subsp. pimeleoides
Synonymy:
- ≡ Hebe pimeleoides (Hook.f.) Cockayne & Allan, Trans. New Zealand Inst. 57: 38 (1926) subsp. pimeleoides
- = Veronica pimeleoides var. minor Hook.f., Handb. New Zealand Fl. 738 (1867)
- ≡ Hebe pimeleoides var. minor (Hook.f.) Cockayne & Allan, Trans. New Zealand Inst. 57: 38 (1926)
Holotype: Shingle beds of River Cameron, near Lake Heron, von Haast, 27 Oct 1864, K! [sprigs mounted in the lower right corner of a sheet that also includes material, collected after the species was described, from Clarence Valley, T. F. Cheeseman]. Probable isotype: CHR 22697 [probably a piece removed from holotype]
Description
Mat or low-sprawling shrub or sub-shrub to 0.3 m tall. Stems prostrate to decumbent. Leaves narrow-elliptic to ovate, 2.0–12.1 mm long, 0.7–5.2 mm wide. Surfaces of leaves, bracts and calyx glabrous or sometimes with short eglandular hairs on one or both surfaces. Flowers 4–12 per inflorescence; corolla purplish or blue, fading paler.
Recognition
V. pimeleoides subsp. pimeleoides plants are mostly smaller than subsp. faucicola plants and have smaller leaves and smaller flowers (6–8 mm diameter) with more intensely coloured corollas. The smallest plants are found on lake shores in Canterbury and Marlborough (e.g., Lake Sedgemere).
Distribution
South Island: Marlborough, Canterbury, Otago.
Habitat
Terraces, slopes, and embankments, stony sites on sunny faces and in tussock grassland, often near lakes and rivers; stony ridge crests at higher altitudes. Recorded elevations range from 335 to 1616 m.
Biostatus
Indigenous (Endemic)
Hybridisation
V. pimeleoides subsp. pimeleoides is probably a parent of a number of garden hybrids that have small leaves and purple flowers, such as V. ×youngii (V. elliptica × pimeleoides) and V. ‘Autumn Glory’.
Phenology
Flowers: December–February; fruits: January–April, persisting until September.
Cytology
2n = 40, 80 (see Bayly & Kellow 2006, as Hebe pimeleoides subsp. pimeleoides).
Notes
Variation patterns in both morphological and chemical characters were described, discussed, and related to infraspecific taxonomy by Kellow et al. (2003).
Images
Bibliography
Armstrong, J.B. 1879: Descriptions of some new native plants. New Zealand Country Journal 3(1): 56–59.
Bayly, M.J.; Kellow, A.V. 2006: An Illustrated Guide to New Zealand Hebes. Te Papa Press, Wellington. [as Hebe pimeleoides (Hook.f.) Cockayne & Allan subsp. pimeleoides; Hebe pimeleoides var. minor (Hook.f.) Cockayne & Allan; Veronica pimeleoides var. minor Hook.f.]
Cheeseman, T.F. 1906: Manual of the New Zealand Flora. Government Printer, Wellington.
Cockayne, L. 1929: New combinations in the genus Hebe. Transactions of the New Zealand Institute 60: 465–472.
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 Hebe pimeleoides (Hook.f.) Cockayne & Allan subsp. pimeleoides] [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.
Hooker, J.D. 1852–1853 ("1853"): The Botany of the Antarctic Voyage of H.M. Discovery Ships Erebus and Terror in the Years 1839–1843, under the command of Captain Sir James Clark Ross. II. Flora Novae-Zelandiae. Part I. Flowering plants. Lovell Reeve, London.
Hooker, J.D. 1867: Handbook of the New Zealand Flora: a systematic description of the native plants of New Zealand and the Chatham, Kermadec's, Lord Auckland's, Campbell's, and Macquarrie's Islands. Part II. Reeve, London.
Kellow, A.V.; Bayly, M.J.; Mitchell, K.A.; Garnock-Jones, P.J. 2003: Variation in morphology and flavonoid chemistry in Hebe pimeleoides (Scrophulariaceae), including a revised subspecific classification. New Zealand Journal of Botany 41(2): 233–253.
