Flora of New Zealand Series

Veronica macroura Hook. f. ex Benth. in DC. Prodr. 10, 1846, 459.

Hebe macroura (Benth.) Ckn. et Allan in T.N.Z.I. 57, 1926, 15.

Type: K.

Glab. shrub. Lvs subsessile, obovate-oblong. Racemes axillary, dense-fld. Calyx-lobes oblong, obtuse, at fruiting up to 2 mm. long. Capsule nodding, scarcely 2 × calyx. (Translated from original diagnosis.)

DIST.: N. South of c. lat. 37° 30'. Coastal cliffs. Original record: "in Nova Zeelandia (Hooker fil.!) "

A specimen in Herb. Benthamianum in K from "N. Zealand" is very precisely matched by W 5314C (without locality) in Herb. Colenso which shows the following features: Branchlets glab., length of internodes much > diam. Lvs c. 5 × 2 cm., of rather heavy texture; lf-bud without sinus; lamina entire, obtuse to minutely mucronulate, glab. except for minute pubescence on midrib and margin. Infls to 8 cm. long. Calyx-lobes ciliolate only, most fls having some obtuse and some acute. Corolla-tube c. 1·5 × calyx, lobes only slightly shorter. Capsule glab.

H. cookiana (Col.) Ckn. et Allan in T.N.Z.I. 57, 1926, 16.  Veronica cookiana Col. in T.N.Z.I. 20, 1888, 201.  V. macroura var. cookiana (Col.) Cheesem. Man. N.Z. Fl. 1906, 501. Type locality: "Cliffs, sea-side, near Table Cape; 1887: Mr H. Hill". Type: W, 5315. Colenso regrets his "specimens have been damaged in their long transit", and the two twigs in Herb. Colenso are not only very crumpled but also have unhealthy tips and infls giving the "thyrse-like appearance" described by Colenso. Chief differences from the Bentham specimen of H. macroura are in rather broader lvs, suddenly subacute and with evident pubescence on margins, and the "roughly pilose" calyx-lobes.

On North Id sea-cliffs from North Taranaki and Bay of Plenty southwards, plants here grouped under  var. macroura have broad thickish lvs varying greatly in size and shape and in amount of marginal pubescence, the fls showing sts more, sts less pubescence on calyx. As pointed out by Cockayne and Allan (loc. cit.) they appear to cross readily with narrower-lvd plants which frequently grow with them, and interbreeding with var. stricta might account for the greater incidence of calyx-pubescence in the northern part of the range. On very exposed coasts plants may be almost prostrate with much similarity to H. obtusata and some of these remain decumbent in cultivation. About Cook Strait, Cockayne (T.N.Z.I. 48, 1916, 200) could find no constant differences between such coastal plants and the "tall shrub so common in and near Wellington city" and he united all under his  var. atkinsonii. The older practice of associating all these broad-lvd coastal plants under the name macroura seems to have more to recommend it; it is suspected that they occur also on the South Id shores of Cook Strait.