Flora of New Zealand Series

Veronica angustifolia A. Rich. Essai Fl. N.Z. 1832, 187 non Fisch. et Link Enum. Hort. berol. 1, 1821, 19 nec S. F. Gray Nat. Arr. Brit. t. 2, 1821, 306.

V. parviflora var. angustifolia Hook. f. in Bot. Mag. 1872, t. 5965.

V. squalida Kirk in T.N.Z.I. 28, 1896, 528.

Hebe angustifolia (A. Rich.) Ckn. et Allan in T.N.Z.I. 57, 1926, 23.

Type locality: "Bassin des Courans, passe des Français". Type: P.

Many-branched shrub to 1 m. tall. Branchlets ashy, glab., internodes long. Lvs slightly glaucous, c. 5 cm. × 8 mm., narrow-linear, acute. Infls slender, 2 or more × lvs. Calyx-lobes obtuse. Corolla bluish, tube 2 × calyx, lobes obtuse.

DIST.: S. Nelson and Marlborough. Probably also N.

The above details are taken from Richard's description on which Hooker's var. was based. Apart from the suggested colour of lvs and corolla the description fits plants seen from French Pass, and these agree with the description of Kirk's V. squalida and match the type, W 5339, Matori, Nelson Province, T. Kirk, Feb. 1877. Similar plants, allowing for considerable range of lf-size in different situations, are very common in parts of Nelson and Marlborough, especially in rocky and well-drained places on the coast and in river valleys where they are often as much as 2 m. tall. The lf-margin is characteristically quite glab. with a very narrow cartilaginous border, which is seen also in a Banks and Solander specimen (A 58883) presumably from Totaranui, Admiralty Bay.

V. parviflora var. obtusa Kirk in T.N.Z.I. 28, 1896, 527 was based on a single specimen (W 5338, A. Hamilton, Hawke's Bay) which has the long corolla-tube of var. angustifolia combined with lf-margin with minutely pubescent band reminiscent of H. stricta; there is no information about size of plant and hybrid origin is suspected.

V. angustifolia var. abbreviata Petrie in T.N.Z.I. 53, 1921, 371 is based on one collection (W 5340, "Valley of the Ure R., Marlbro', early April, 1915, B. C. Aston"). The diagnosis records the shortness of the racemes which is due to arrested development, the abortive apical portions remaining in nearly all infls in the bud stage. No other differences from var. angustifolia are apparent.

Also probably belonging to var. angustifolia are rupestral plants of North Id, growing mostly on cliffs and banks and most abundant about the Ruahine Range; they have the same lf-margin and long narrow corolla-tube but rarely grow > 1 m. tall. A number of local races remain distinct in cultivation.

A. P. Druce has collected from rocky places in Kaweka, Kaimanawa and N.W. Ruahine mountains a low-growing broader-lvd plant with occ. branching infls. In cultivation it remains prostrate, with glossy lanceolate lvs c. 3-5 cm. × 7-10 mm. It is connected by intermediates with var. angustifolia but its precise relationships remain uncertain.