''Veronica brachysiphon'' (formerly known as ''Hebe brachysiphon''), is a species of shrubby plant in the family

Plantaginaceae Plantaginaceae, the plantain family or veronica family, is a large, diverse family (biology), family of flowering plants in the order Lamiales that includes common flowers such as Antirrhinum, snapdragon and Digitalis, foxglove. It is unrelated ...

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

to New Zealand.

Etymology

The name ''brachysiphon'' refers to its short flower tubes (''brachy'' is of Greek origin which means 'short', ''siphon'' means a 'straw' or 'tube'), which distinguish it from ''V. traversii''.

Distribution

''V. brachysiphon'' is found only in New Zealand, imostly in

subalpine Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is a crucial f ...

areas of

Marlborough Marlborough or the Marlborough may refer to: Places Australia * Marlborough, Queensland * Principality of Marlborough, a short-lived micronation in 1993 * Marlborough Highway, Tasmania; Malborough was an historic name for the place at the sou ...

and

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...

from the main divide to the eastern foothills. Its northern limit is the Red Hills Range near Nelson, and its southern is near Mount Hutt. It prefers shrubland but can be found in

beech Beech (genus ''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to subtropical (accessory forest element) and temperate (as dominant element of Mesophyte, mesophytic forests) Eurasia and North America. There are 14 accepted ...

forest near the treeline.

Description

This bushy, rounded shrub grows up to 1.8 m tall, and is usually closely branched and compact. The leaf buds have a small, narrow, acute sinus, distinguishing them from similar species. The leaves are variable, 8.5–25.5 mm long and 3.3–8 mm wide; they are not glaucous, but bright green and glossy with many stomata on the upper surface, usually more than in the closely-related '' V. venustula''. Veronica brachysiphon flowers MRD

''V. brachysiphon'' usually flowers from December to February. The white flowers have mauve

anthers The stamen (: stamina or stamens) is a part consisting of the male reproductive organs of a flower. Collectively, the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filamen ...

and are pedicellate (borne on a stalk) with small

bracts In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves in size, color, shape or texture. They also loo ...

. The cylindrical or funnel-shaped tube of the corolla is longer than the calyces at its base, another distinctive feature of this species. Male and female flowers are carried on different plants. ''V. brachysiphon'' can be confused with ''V. divaricata''; although it is a compact subalpine shub with simple inflorescences, and ''V. divaricata'' is more open with branched inflorescences, some individuals in the Nelson Lakes area can be intermediate in form.

References

External links

iNaturalist observations
of ''Veronica brachysiphon'' {{Taxonbar, from=Q17743471 breviracemosa Endemic flora of New Zealand