Hebe epacridea (Hook, f.) Ckn. & Allan

A low or prostrate evergreen shrub, the young stems completely clothed with leaves arranged in opposite, overlapping pairs on the stem. Leaves about 3⁄16 in. long, ovate, pointed, united at the base, distinctly recurved, V-shaped in cross section, glabrous except for a streak of down where the leaves join at the base, dark dull green with pale margins; they persist on the stems for several years. Flowers fragrant, closely packed in compact, egg-shaped, terminal heads, 1⁄2 to 11⁄4 in. long by 3⁄4 in. wide. Each flower is about 1⁄8 to 3⁄16 in. wide, white, the tube of the corolla slender. Calyx deeply four-lobed, the lobes narrow oblong, as long as the corolla tube, margined with fine hairs.

Native of the South Island of New Zealand; discovered by Dr Sinclair, in 1860, at Tarndale, a few miles from the Wairau Gorge, Nelson. It is a species distinct in the very stiff, thick, rigid leaves, dense compact head of flowers and long slender corolla-tube. It occurs wild at elevations of 3,000 to 5,000 ft and is quite hardy. Suitable for the rock garden. Flowers in July.

H. haastii (Hook. f.) Ckn. & Allan V. haastii Hook. f. – This species is related to H. epacridea but does not have its keeled leaves. Its variations are treated in Fl. N.Z., Vol. 1, pp. 939–40. Both species are figured in Philipson and Hearn, Rock Garden Plants, plates 48 and 46 respectively.