Family: Plantaginaceae
Kingdom: Plantae
(Unranked): Angiosperms
(Unranked): Eudicots
(Unranked): Asterids
Order: Lamiales
Family: Plantaginaceae
Genus: Hebe
Species: H. odora
Binomial name: Hebe odora
Synonyms: Hebe buxifolia, H. anomala, H. busifolia
Common Name: Hebe buxifolia 'Nana' Hebe buxifolia, Boxwood hebe
Hebe odora is a shrub with a variable form depending on habitat. It is an upright, ball shaped, evergreen shrub, which can reach 1 m high or more, depending the particular form.The green, leathery, spear-shaped leaves are glossy above and with a dull underside; they are about 1.5 cm long with pale margins.
There are hairs on the branchlets which are arranged in two opposite rows.
The tubular flowers are white or pale mauve with purple stamen, flowers occur on lateral spikes with a mass crowded at the branch tip. Flowering from October to March.
Hebe odora is found in damp ground in subalpine areas in North Island, South Island, Stewart Island and Auckland Island. It is common in the subalpine scrub and alpine tussock on Mt Taranaki/Egmont.
"Hebe odora has two distinct forms in the park. The common form occurs mainly in tussock grassland and subalpine shrublands on both the Egmont and Pouakai cones, but on the Pouakai tops there is a prostrate form that retains this character in cultivation." (The 2002 Banks Memorial Lecture The flora of Mt Taranaki/Egmont: Understanding natural and garden experiments Bruce D. Clarkson)
