Kingdom: Plantae
(Unranked): Angiosperms
(Unranked): Eudicots
(Unranked): Asterids
Order: Lamiales
Family: Plantaginaceae
Genus: Hebe
Species: H. annulata
Scientific name: Hebe annulata
Synonyms: Veronica armstrongii var. annulata, Veronica annulata, Hebe annulata, Leonohebe annulata.
Hebe annulata is an open, straggling low, spreading whipcord, with minute, dull, yellow-green leaves. The branches are whip-like, at first erect or ascending, becoming spreading at maturity.White flowers, in short spikes are borne in early summer (October – January). Fruiting occurs December – March.
Found in the wild on eastern South Island where known from Otago and Southland. Sparingly recorded from the Remarkables, Hector, Criffel Ranges and the Takitimu Mountains, it was listed as one old historic gathering from near Kurow, South Island, New Zealand. Found in upper montane to subalpine. It is a species of open, sparsely vegetated shrublands where it is usually found at the toe of steep slopes, often in and around boulders.
Research in 1999 by Steven Wagstaff and Peter Wardle confirmed its status as a species. Hebe annulata is closely related to Hebe armstrongii and Hebe salicornioides. H. annulata has stouter branchlets, the leaves are more imbricating (overlapping) and more strongly appressed.
The leaves of this whipcord hebe
