Hebe macrantha (Hook. f.) Ckn. & Allan

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Credits

Article from Bean's Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles

Recommended citation
'Hebe macrantha' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/hebe/hebe-macrantha/). Accessed 2024-10-12.

Genus

Synonyms

  • Veronica macrantha Hook. f.

Glossary

apex
(pl. apices) Tip. apical At the apex.
glabrous
Lacking hairs smooth. glabrescent Becoming hairless.

References

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Credits

Article from Bean's Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles

Recommended citation
'Hebe macrantha' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/hebe/hebe-macrantha/). Accessed 2024-10-12.

An evergreen shrub of sparse, rather ungainly habit, 1 to 2 ft high, with the leaves about eight to the inch on the young shoots. Leaves obovate, often narrowly so, pointed or rounded at the apex, tapered at the base, conspicuously toothed at the upper half, 13 to 1 in. long, 14 to 12 in. wide, of thick fleshy texture, thickened at the margins, glabrous bright green; stalk short and thick. Flowers pure white, 34 in. wide, produced from the terminal leaf-axils in clusters of three to eight. Bot. Mag., n.s., t. 177.

A native of the Southern Alps of New Zealand up to 5,000 ft. Although described in 1864, it is of quite recent introduction to Britain (the plate in the Botanical Magazine was painted in June 1949 and the sprays figured came from a plant cultivated in the grounds of the Department of Botany, University of Aberdeen). It is remarkably distinct in the leathery, toothed leaves, but more especially in the flowers being 34 in. wide and the largest borne by any shrubby New Zealand species. As it occurs up to 5,000 ft altitude on the South Island it should be one of the hardiest. Cheeseman observes that in growth it is by no means so attractive as many other species, but that when in flower few have a more charming appearance: ‘The sight of a rocky slope covered with multitudes of the pure white flowers is a spectacle not easily paralleled.’