Veronica lyallii Hook.f.

This is a near relative of V. catarractae but smaller in all its parts. It is of prostrate habit, the branches taking root in the ground. Young shoots with usually two lines of down as in V. catarractae. Leaves thick and leathery, ovate to orbicular, 1⁄4 to 1⁄2 in. long, with a few coarse teeth on each margin. Flowers white, veined with rose, 1⁄3 in. wide, produced in late summer and autumn on erect racemes 2 to 6 in. high; anthers blue. Native of the South Island of New Zealand up to 4,500 ft. It is hardy. Although there has been confusion between them, V. lyallii and V. catarractae are, for the most part, clearly distinguishable. In the former the leaves are obtuse to rounded at the apex, and the teeth are rather wide and blunt. In V. catarractae the leaves are acute and sharply serrated, and are also generally much larger than in V. lyallii. In the wild, plants occur in some areas which are intermediate, but so far as is known these have not been introduced to cultivation.