''Veronica pubescens'' is a species of

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...

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 ...

. The plant has three known subspecies: ''Veronica pubescens'' subsp. ''pubescens'' (the Coromandel koromiko) ''Veronica pubescens'' subsp. ''rehuarum'' (Great Barrier koromiko) and ''Veronica pubescens'' subsp. ''sejuncta'' (the Mokohinau koromiko). The species is endemic to New Zealand, with subspecies found on the

Coromandel Peninsula The Coromandel Peninsula () on the North Island of New Zealand extends north from the western end of the Bay of Plenty, forming a natural barrier protecting the Hauraki Gulf and the Firth of Thames in the west from the Pacific Ocean ...

Great Barrier Island Great Barrier Island () lies in the outer Hauraki Gulf, New Zealand, north-east of central Auckland. With an area of it is the sixth-largest List of islands of New Zealand, island of New Zealand. Its highest point, Mount Hobson, Great Barrier ...

and the Mokohinau Islands respectively.

Taxonomy

The species was described by

George Bentham George Bentham (22 September 1800 – 10 September 1884) was an English botanist, described by the weed botanist Duane Isely as "the premier systematic botanist of the nineteenth century". Born into a distinguished family, he initially studie ...

in 1846, based on observations made by

Joseph Banks Sir Joseph Banks, 1st Baronet, (19 June 1820) was an English Natural history, naturalist, botanist, and patron of the natural sciences. Banks made his name on the European and American voyages of scientific exploration, 1766 natural-history ...

and

Daniel Solander Daniel Carlsson Solander or Daniel Charles Solander (19 February 1733 – 13 May 1782) was a Sweden, Swedish naturalist and an Apostles of Linnaeus, apostle of Carl Linnaeus. Solander was the first university-educated scientist to set foot o ...

during the

First voyage of James Cook The first voyage of James Cook was a combined Royal Navy and Royal Society expedition to the south Pacific Ocean aboard HMS Endeavour, HMS ''Endeavour'', from 1768 to 1771. The aims were to observe the 1769 transit of Venus from Tahiti and to ...

in 1769. The holotype was collected from "Opurangi" ( Mercury Bay), and is held in the collections of the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

(BM 603447). In 1926,

Leonard Cockayne Leonard Cockayne (7 April 1855 – 8 July 1934) is regarded as New Zealand's greatest botanist and a founder of Western science in New Zealand. Biography He was born in Sheffield, England where he attended Wesley College. He travelled to Aus ...

and

Harry Allan Harry Howard Barton Allan (27 April 1882 – 29 October 1957) was a New Zealand teacher, botanist, scientific administrator, and writer. Despite never receiving a formal education in botany, he became an eminent scientist, publishing ove ...

recombined the species as a member of the genus Hebe, meaning that the plant became referred to as ''Hebe pubescens''. A 2004 paper by Michael James Bayly and Alison Kellow on the revision of the genus ''Hebe'' led to the original name, ''Veronica pubescens'', being reinstated. In 2003, morphological differences between three populations of the species led to the creation of three subspecies: ''Veronica pubescens'' subsp. ''pubescens'' found on the

, ''Veronica pubescens'' subsp. ''rehuarum'' on

, and ''Veronica pubescens'' subsp. ''sejuncta'', found on the Mokohinau Islands and

Little Barrier Island Little Barrier Island, or Hauturu in Māori language, Māori (the official Māori title is ''Te Hauturu-o-Toi''), lies off the northeastern coast of New Zealand's North Island. Located to the north of Auckland, the island is separated from the ...

Description

''Veronica pubescens'' is a bushy shrub that grows up to in height. ''Veronica pubescens'' subsp. ''pubescens'' has longer leaf hairs than the other two subspecies, while ''Veronica pubescens'' subsp. ''rehuarum'' has shorter leaf hairs and leaves that are broadest below the midpoint. ''Veronica pubescens'' subsp. ''sejuncta'' can be identified due to having leaver broader above the midpoint.

Distribution and habitat

The species is endemic to

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. ''Veronica pubescens'' subsp. ''pubescens'' is found on the

, ''Veronica pubescens'' subsp. ''rehuarum'' on

, and ''Veronica pubescens'' subsp. ''sejuncta'', found on the Mokohinau Islands and

. The plants typically live in open coastal areas or scrublands, on rock outcrops and cliffs, and inland in areas of regenerating forest.

Gallery

Hebe pubescens rehuarum (Benth.) Cockayne and Allan (AM AK285153).jpg, ''Veronica pubescens'' subsp. ''rehuarum'' type specimen from the herbarium of

Auckland War Memorial Museum The Auckland War Memorial Museum (), also known as Auckland Museum, is one of New Zealand's most important museums and war memorials. Its neoclassical architecture, neoclassical building constructed in the 1920s and 1950s, stands on Observatory ...

Veronica pubescens rehuarum 1985882.jpg, ''Veronica pubescens'' subsp. ''rehuarum'' Hebe pubescens sejuncta (Benth.) Cockayne and Allan (AM AK285152).jpg, ''Veronica pubescens'' subsp. ''sejuncta'' type specimen from the herbarium of

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q17744756 pubescens Endemic flora of New Zealand Plants described in 1846 Taxa named by Joseph Banks Taxa named by Daniel Solander Taxa named by George Bentham Flora of the North Island