Kingdom: Plantae
(Unranked): Angiosperms
(Unranked): Eudicots
(Unranked): Asterids
Order: Lamiales
Family: Plantaginaceae
Genus: Hebe
Species: H. pubescens subsp. sejuncta
Binomial name: Hebe pubescens subsp. sejuncta
Synonyms: Hebe ‘Mokohinau’.
Veronica pubescens subsp. sejuncta, raditionally the Mokohinau Hebe has was placed within a broad concept of H. bollonsii (Moore 1961), but is now treated as a distinct taxon allied to H. pubescens (Eagle 1982-as Hebe sp. "v"). The sub species name sejuncta means ‘isolated’ referring to the isolated island it is found on.
Common Names: Mokohinau Koromiko, Mokohinau Hebe is an informal name used by Anthony Peter (Tony) Druce in the New Zealand Journal of Botany.
Hebe pubescens subsp. sejuncta is a shrub that grows up to 2 m tall and is usually heavily branched. Branches erect or spreading; old stems brown to red-brown; youngest branchlets green to red. It is endemic to the offshore Mokohinau, Little Barrier and Great Barrier Island in the Hauraki Gulf where it grows in coastal forests and petrel scrub. It is rare on Great Barrier Island.
The dark green, glossy leaves (30–125 × 7–31 mm) are obovate or oblanceolate and are usually broadest above the midpoint. The leaf buds are about as long as mature leaves. Flowers appear in August - November then again in May – July. They are on inflorescences with 20–190 flowers which are first a pale lavender blue colour fading to white.
Photographed at Otari Native Botanic Garden and Wilton's Bush Reserve, Wellington.
[http://ketenewplymouth.peoplesnetworknz.info/image_files/0000/0003/0094/Hebe_pubescens_subsp._sejuncta__Mokohinau_Koromiko-002.JPG
]The top surface of a leaf.