Flora of New Zealand Series

Veronica buchananii Hook. f. Handbk N.Z. Fl. 1864, 211.

Type locality: "Otago, lake district, alpine, alt. 3-5000 ft." Type: K, Hector and Buchanan.

Shrub much branched from base, 10-20 cm. tall; branches stout, woody, tortuous, black, closely scarred. Branchlets dark, glossy except for two us. well-defined pubescent lines; length of internodes us. = or < diam. Lvs spreading, 3 × 3 mm. to 7 × 5 mm. or larger where sheltered, broadly ovate, ± concave, thick, coriac., not shining, sts glaucous; lf-bud without sinus, lf-base very broad, us. > 1/2 lf-width; lamina glab., subacute, entire, margin thick; midrib obvious, especially towards tip and often forming keel there. Infls lateral, simple, to 2 cm. long; peduncle us. hidden, coarsely pubescent. Fls crowded, sessile. Bracts broad, subacute, fringed with cilia. Calyx-lobes broader than bracts, similarly ciliate. Corolla-tube not > calyx, lobes rather narrow. Capsule erect, rounded, pubescent, little > calyx.

DIST.: S. Canterbury Alps from Godley Valley southwards; drier Otago Mts.

FL. 11-3.

Buchanan specimens A 8138 and W 5364 resemble the type in having very small lvs, down to 3 × 3 mm. Lvs of similar size are seen on the same branch with others more than twice as big on A 8144, Mt. Sebastopol, Hooker Valley, T. F. C.

Var. exigua Cheesem. Man. N.Z. Fl. 1906, 527 is based on specimens of mid lf-size from Hooker Glacier, 3500 ft. Type: A, 8147 T. F. C. Jan. 1898, 1604 to Kew.

Var. major Cheesem. Man. N.Z. Fl. 1906, 527 has the original localities: "Canterbury-Mount Cook District, T.F.C.; Otago-Mount Kyeburn, Petrie! H. J. Matthews!" Of the six sheets so labelled in Herb. Cheeseman three bear specimens collected at Mt. Cook and these (including A 8144 mentioned above) appear to be simply large-lvd plants of H. buchananii, as does one of the Mt. Kyeburn sheets (A 8145); the other Mt. Kyeburn sheet (A 8146) has twigs with uniformly narrow spathulate lvs, very glaucous, and fls with corolla-tube distinctly > calyx; the sixth sheet (A 8141) has specimens from "a cultivated plant brought from Mt. Cook, H. J. Matthews"; these are quite different from all the rest, with long internodes, cartilaginous-margined lvs, long infls, small bracts, shortly pedicellate fls, and pubescent capsules definitely > calyx; these features, with the dwarf spreading habit noted, all suggest buchananii × subalpina.

The most divergent form seen comes from the Rock and Pillar Range (Otago Univ. Herb. 002759). Lvs are without obvious midrib or keel, apparently fleshy when fresh and ± glossy when dry, some stems unusually pubescent, corolla-lobes rounded, and the one ovary dissected with very long hairs.

H. buchananii differs from H. pinguifolia in more dwarf habit, smaller lvs of different shape and us. of different texture, and in fringed rather than ciliolate bracts and calyx-lobes. It is not clear to what extent their distributions overlap. In spite of some variation in lf-size, H. buchananii has several characters that remain rather constant throughout its range.