A definitive new reference for New Zealand hebes and speedwells has been published in the Flora of New Zealand Online. This is the first complete account of this group of related species since 1925. Botany Curator Heidi Meudt talks about the achievement here. 

This new Flora treatment of Veronica is a monumental publication comprising 528 pages and is freely available online as web content or as a printable PDF.

The publication includes all 141 species in the genus Veronica known to be growing in the wild in New Zealand, including 124 native species and 17 naturalised species of hebes and speedwells. (Speedwell is the common name for Veronica in English.)

Look closely – what do you notice about the flowers of these two inflorescences?

This one on the left is from a hermaphrodite plant; its bisexual flowers have fertile stamens (male parts) and pistil (female parts). Both are flowers of Veronica stricta var. stricta (Figs. 1187 & 1188) P.J. Garnock-Jones CC-BY-NC 3.0 NZ

This one on the right is from a female plant; it’s stamens have pale, sterile, empty anthers. Both are flowers of Veronica stricta var. stricta (Figs. 1187 & 1188) P.J. Garnock-Jones CC-BY-NC 3.0 NZ

The botanist behind this botanical tour de force is Phil Garnock-Jones, who is Professor Emeritus at Victoria University of Wellington. Phil, who is now retired, has spent much of his career studying the classification, evolution and breeding systems of New Zealand hebes and speedwells.

This publication is the culmination of decades of research and comprises a thorough introduction to the genus, a history of hebe and speedwell classification, and important characteristics to look out for when identifying hebe species. Even if you are familiar with some of the common New Zealand hebes, you might see something in the photos that you hadn’t noticed before.

Upper and lower surfaces of leaves of Veronica salicifolia (Fig. 1039) W.M. Malcolm. Te Papa CC-BY-NC 3.0 NZ 

Fruiting capsules of Veronica stricta var. lata (Fig. 1177) W.M. Malcolm. Te Papa CC-BY-NC 3.0 NZ

Following a description of the genus Veronica, each species is listed alphabetically and profiled, with information about its description, name, geographical distribution and habitat. Beautiful close-up photos of important features of each plant are also included, many of which were taken by Phil himself.

Our contribution

Te Papa is a participating institution in the Flora of New Zealand Online, together with NIWA and Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research through the latter’s Biota portfolio. Te Papa’s contribution also included hosting Phil as a part-time researcher for about three years during the course of his work on this project.

During that time, Phil made use of our extensive collection of around 8,000 New Zealand hebe specimens. We are currently in the process of imaging these specimens, with over half now available online – i.e. all specimens of species whose names start with the letters m to z.

This is not the only new Flora publication that Te Papa researchers have authored. In 2022, Te Papa botanists Patrick Brownsey and Leon Perrie completed 34 publications on all 32 families, 78 genera, and 268 species of native and naturalised New Zealand ferns, again making use of Te Papa’s large collection of nearly 40,000 fern specimens, about a quarter of which they also themselves collected.

So, congratulations, Phil, on this huge achievement of bringing the hebes and speedwells all together again for us to learn about and appreciate them!

A leaf bud of Veronica odora with a shield-shaped sinus, which is an important characteristic for identifying hebes. (Fig. 776) W.M. Malcolm. Te Papa CC-BY-NC 3.0 NZ

Flowers of Veronica albicans, showing two slightly different local variants (Fig. 48) P.J. Garnock-Jones CC-BY-NC 3.0 NZ

References

Garnock-Jones, P.J. 2023: Veronica. In: Breitwieser, I. (ed) Flora of New Zealand – Seed Plants. Fascicle 9. Manaaki Whenua Press, Lincoln. http://dx.doi.org/10.7931/B1CC7W