Flora of New Zealand Series

Veronica lyallii Hook. f. Fl. N.Z. 1, 1854, 196.

Hebe lyallii (Hook. f.) Allan in T.R.S.N.Z. 69, 1939, 276.

Type locality: Milford Sound. Type: K, Lyall.

Low much-branched subshrub; stems slender, us. woody at base, prostrate to decumbent and rooting at nodes below, rarely ± erect; branches decumbent to ascending, bifariously to uniformly pubescent with crisped white hairs. Lvs membr. to subcoriac., sts fleshy and reddish when fresh, glab. or midrib and petiole pubescent above; lamina 5-10-(15) × (2)-4-8-(10) mm., suborbicular to ovate to ovate-oblong or linear-obovate, ± deeply crenate to bluntly serrate, tip obtusely rounded to subacute, base cuneately narrowed into petiole 2-3 mm. long. Racemes us. ∞-fld; peduncles slender, 3-8 cm. long, glab. to densely pubescent, sts also glandular-hairy; bracts ovate to linear, lower occ. subfoliaceous, 2.5-5 mm. long, glab.; pedicels 8-15 mm. long, sparsely to densely pubescent or glandular-hairy. Calyx-lobes 2.5-4·5 mm. long, obovate-oblong, acute, ciliolate. Corolla white to pink, c. 1 cm. diam.; tube c. 1 mm. long, much < calyx; lobes 4, unequal, spreading, broadly rounded, up to 8 mm. wide. Capsule 3·5-5 × 3-4 mm., little to much > calyx, broad-obovate, emarginate, turgid, glab.

DIST.: N.? S. Common in lowland to subalpine rocky places and streamsides throughout.

FL. 11-3-(5). FT. 12-5.

In Nelson and Marlborough the sp. is polymorphic in several characters, as discussed above, and not always easily separable from smaller states of P. catarractae. In the southern part of its range (south of c. lat. 42° 30') however it is fairly uniform except for correlated variation in density of stem- and infl.-pubescence; no glandular pubescence occurs and lvs are suborbicular to ovate or ovate-oblong, not < 5 mm. wide. In the west coast fiords it occurs with and is quite distinct from the large form of P. catarractae.

Recorded occurrences of P. lyallii in the North Id mostly appear to have been based on small-lvd plants of the P. catarractae complex or P. hookeriana var. olsenii, but some forms of uncertain status undoubtedly approach South Id plants closely.

V. lyallii var. suberecta Cheesem. Man. N.Z. Fl. 1906, 543.  V. lyallii var. β Hook. f. Fl. N.Z. 1, 1854, 196. Cheeseman's description is: "Stem woody at the base; branches slender, wiry, erect or suberect. Leaves usually narrower, oblong or obovate-oblong, with coarser and more numerous teeth, sometimes almost lobed." Cheeseman gave no localities for his var. but the type of Hooker's var. β is in K, Milford Sound, Lyall.

V. lyallii var. angustata Petrie in T.N.Z.I. 49, 1917, 53. Petrie's description includes: Stems slender, erect, much branched from the base, densely villous-pubescent. Leaves crowded, spreading, ± 10 × 2.5-4 mm., subacute. Type: W. Ngakawau R. mouth, S.W. Nelson, Petrie, 25/2/13.

The descriptions of the two vars are very similar, particularly as regards narrow lvs and slender erect habit. Narrow-lvd plants with laminae 6-10 × 2-5 mm. occur from N.W. Nelson to Westland, but there are intermediates between these and broader-lvd forms; narrow lvs are not regularly associated with a particular kind of stem- and infl.-pubescence or very clearly with erect habit. Glandular pubescence of the infl., us. accompanied by strictly bifarious stem-pubescence, is found on both narrow- and broad-lvd plants in the Nelson district, but the type of var. angustata has no glandular pubescence. A small, erect, narrow-lvd specimen with glandular-pubescent infl. from Wangapeka Valley, Nelson (W) has been identified by Cheeseman as var. suberecta.