''Veronica arcuata'' is a

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

species in the family

Plantaginaceae Plantaginaceae, the plantain family, is a large, diverse family of flowering plants in the order Lamiales that includes common flowers such as snapdragon and foxglove. It is unrelated to the banana-like fruit also called "plantain." In older cl ...

. It is native to northern

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

. The lilac coloured flowers are showy and conspicuous from late spring to late summer.

Description

''Veronica arcuata'' is a

perennial A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...

herb In general use, herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables and other plants consumed for macronutrients, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicinal ...

or small shrub growing up to high. Several stems grow at ground level from a slender woody rootstock or underground

rhizome In botany and dendrology, a rhizome (; , ) is a modified subterranean plant stem that sends out roots and shoots from its nodes. Rhizomes are also called creeping rootstalks or just rootstalks. Rhizomes develop from axillary buds and grow hori ...

. The stems are mostly erect and rarely branched below the

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...

. They are smooth, bluish-green and covered with a powdery film. The leaves are arranged in opposite pairs, narrowly egg-shaped and may be coarsely toothed with 6-15 pairs along the leaf blade. The leaves have no stalk, curve downward and are long and wide. The leaves mostly have about seven longitudinal veins and end in a sharp point. The

s grow at the end of each stem. The

raceme A raceme ( or ) or racemoid is an unbranched, indeterminate type of inflorescence bearing flowers having short floral stalks along the shoots that bear the flowers. The oldest flowers grow close to the base and new flowers are produced as the s ...

may be long, bearing 20-85 individual lilac coloured flowers. The

sepal A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 The term ''sepalum'' was coined b ...

s are long and wide. The seed capsules are egg-shaped, long, wide and slightly flattened. The seeds are smooth, bluish-green with a powdery film, the apex either obtuse or square. The sepals remain after flowering and are wide, encircling the fruit.

Taxonomy and naming

This species was first formally described in 1992 by Barbara Briggs and

Friedrich Ehrendorfer Friedrich Ehrendorfer (born 26 July 1927 in Vienna) is a professor emeritus of plant systematics at the Department of Botany and Biodiversity Research, University of Vienna. He is an honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. For ...

who gave it the name ''Derwentia arcuata'' and published the description in '' Telopea''. In 2007 Briggs changed the name to ''Veronica arcuata'' and published the change in the journal "

Taxon In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; plural taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular nam ...

". The

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

(''arcuata'') is derived from the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

''arcuatus'' meaning "bent like a bow", referring to the recurved leaves.

Distribution and habitat

''Veronica arcuata'' is found at higher altitudes in northern New South Wales from Deepwater to Walcha where it grows in shallow soil over

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...

and

basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...

in eucalypt woodland.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q17743521 Flora of New South Wales arcuata Plants described in 1992 Taxa named by Barbara G. Briggs