''Veronica epacridea'',

synonym A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are all ...

''Hebe epacridea'', is a plant of the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

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

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found 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 found elsew ...

to altitudes above 3,000 feet from the Marlborough Region to

Otago Otago (, ; mi, Ōtākou ) is a region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local government reg ...

region on the

South Island The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...

of New Zealand. It is a low-growing, evergreen shrub, reaching 10 cm in height, with thick, closely placed, recurved green leaves that are 5–7 mm long. Flowers are white.

References

GBIF entry

* Steven J. Wagstaff, Michael J. Bayly, Philip J. Garnock-Jones and Dirk C. Albach, "Classification, Origin, and Diversification of the New Zealand Hebes (Scrophulariaceae)", Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden, Vol. 89, No. 1 (Winter, 2002), pp. 38–63. epacridea Flora of New Zealand {{Plantaginaceae-stub