Example ⟳ +
An example collection, so you can see what this page does. Nothing added here is kept: leaving deletes it.
Veronica hulkeana; photograph naturewatchwidow, CC BY, iNaturalist via GBIF CC BYnaturewatchwidow, CC BY, iNaturalist via GBIF

Veronica hulkeana F.Muell. ex Hook.f.

Marlborough hebe; New Zealand-lilac

Plantaginaceae · New Zealand South

Cited as Kew's World Checklist cites it, Veronica hulkeana F.Muell. ex Hook.f.: GBIF's backbone key for this page carries the name with another author, F.Muell. ex Hook.fil.

Add one to my plants
Sow seed
Veronica hulkeana, photograph naturewatchwidow, CC BY, iNaturalist via GBIFVeronica hulkeana, photograph Joe Dillon, CC BY, iNaturalist via GBIFVeronica hulkeana, photograph Benjamin Lavin, CC BY, iNaturalist via GBIFVeronica hulkeana, photograph Benjamin Lavin, CC BY, iNaturalist via GBIFVeronica hulkeana, photograph Benjamin Lavin, CC BY, iNaturalist via GBIFVeronica hulkeana, photograph Benjamin Lavin, CC BY, iNaturalist via GBIF 24 photographs ›
Habitat figures
Cold floor (1 night in 100)
-0.5°C
Record low -3.6 °C in 44 years, at a typical spot in the range NASA POWER
Warmest month, mean daily high
21°C
Jan and Feb at the habitat CHELSA
Rain a year (median across the range)
957mm
12 months of 25 mm or more in the median year CHELSA
Open-sky light
10–44DLI
Lowest to highest month (DLI) CHELSA
The year in your months, northern hemisphere
  1. Jan
  2. Feb
  3. Mar
  4. Apr
  5. May
  6. Jun
  7. Jul
  8. Aug
  9. Sep
  10. Oct
  11. Nov
  12. Dec
Rain spread: 70% of the median year's rain takes 8 months, so no short rainy season. rain rule, CHELSA
Northern hemisphere unless you set your site. The chart is in the habitat's months.

Summary

Veronica hulkeana, synonym Hebe hulkeana, the New Zealand lilac, is a species of plant in the Plantaginaceae. Its pale mauve flowers are on long sprays, which develop from the tips of the branches. The dainty flowers, which occur in profusion, last from October until December. The foliage is dark green and shiny. More on Wikipedia ›

Quoted from Wikipedia, "Veronica hulkeana", CC BY-SA 4.0.

Cultivation

Seasons

The rain rule reads no short rainy season: 70% of the median year's rain (703 mm of 965 mm) takes 8 months, March to August and October to November. Mean temperature moves 11.7 °C between the warmest and coldest month. Months are the habitat's, southern hemisphere; shifted six months for a northern-hemisphere collection: September to February and April to May.

Rain

965 mm in the median year at the habitat, 703 mm of it March to August and October to November. Wettest month July at 109 mm, driest month January at 57 mm. Across the grid cells of the range the year's total runs 805 mm to 1,200 mm, the 10th to 90th percentile of each cell's own year. The median of the cells' own yearly totals, 957 mm, is the year's rain at the top of the page; the 965 mm here is the median year's, the twelve monthly medians added, which the rain rule reads. Habitat calendar, southern hemisphere; median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA.

Light

Open sky over the habitat: 10 to 44 mol/m²/day across the year (daily light integral, median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA; the lowest 10th-percentile month across the cells is 9, the highest 90th-percentile month 45).

Warmth and air
Temperature

Coldest: the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at a typical spot in the range is -0.5 °C, the absolute minimum -3.6 °C, 342 frost nights in 44 years, 7.8 a year (NASA POWER daily minima). Warmest: the 99th-percentile day is 27.1 °C. Monthly means: the coldest month's mean nightly low 0.7 °C in July (across the grid cells of the range -1.1 °C to 3.6 °C), the warmest month's mean daily high 20.7 °C in January (median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA). Cold floor: -0.5 °C, which is the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at a typical spot in the range (NASA POWER).

Humidity

Relative humidity at the habitat: 59 to 61% across the year (monthly means, median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA). A figure about the air, saying nothing about how the plant takes water.

How this section is made

Each card states this species' habitat figures with their sources, and what two fixed rules read from them; nothing here says what the plant does, wants or tolerates. The rules · the terms.

Seasons. Read from the median year of CHELSA monthly rainfall and mean temperature across the grid cells of the range: the rain rule takes the smallest set of months carrying 70% of the rain and calls it winter when its mean is more than half a degree below the year's, summer when more than that above, and neither in between; the temperature rule, used only under 120 mm, names the cooler six months when they are at least a degree cooler than the other six. Months are shifted for the other hemisphere only where the temperature curve moves 4 °C or more and the habitat lies 10° or more from the equator. A reading of the curves, not an observation of the plant.

Rain. CHELSA monthly precipitation, median year across the grid cells of the range. The rain that falls where the species is recorded; nothing about how the plant takes water.

Light. CHELSA shortwave radiation at each envelope cell, a daily-mean flux taken to a daily total and converted at 2.07 mol of PAR per MJ. The sky over the habitat, measured; what reaches a plant under a rock, a shrub or a shade cloth is not.

Temperature. NASA POWER daily minima and maxima over 44 years at a typical spot in the range, lapse-corrected -63 m to its elevation; CHELSA monthly means, median year across the grid cells of the range. The cold floor is the 1st-percentile night named in its sentence. Not a measured survival limit for any plant in a pot.

Humidity. CHELSA relative humidity, median year across the grid cells of the range.

Climate across the habitat

Habitat months, southern hemisphere

Habitat climate of Veronica hulkeana through the yearWarmest months January and February, mean daily high 21 °C; coldest month July, mean nightly low 0.7 °C; 965 mm of rain in the median year (the twelve monthly medians added). Medians across the range, from CHELSA; the extremes at the edge from NASA POWER. Habitat months, southern hemisphere.-10°0°10°20°30°frost27.1° 99th-percentile day, NASA POWER-3.6° lowest night in 44 years, NASA POWER°C · day and nightcold quarter0255075100125150mm rainDLI 10–44RH 59–61%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
day night rain medians and 10th–90th percentile across 37 habitat cells, CHELSA cold quarter: the three months around the coldest month's mean nightly low extremes over 44 years at a typical spot in the range, from NASA POWER, marked at the edge, in no month DLI, mol/m²/dayRH %each on its own scale
Figures by month
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Day °C21 / 19–2221 / 19–2118 / 17–1915 / 14–1712 / 11–139 / 7–108 / 6–109 / 7–1112 / 11–1415 / 13–1617 / 15–1819 / 17–20
Night °C11 / 10–1311 / 10–1310 / 8–127 / 5–94 / 3–72 / 0–51 / -1–42 / -1–44 / 1–66 / 3–88 / 6–1010 / 8–12
Rain mm57 / 50–6767 / 54–8385 / 65–10973 / 58–9185 / 74–10190 / 74–112109 / 91–13395 / 79–11871 / 59–9089 / 67–11577 / 65–9767 / 59–82
DLI44 / 42–4537 / 35–3829 / 27–3120 / 18–2213 / 12–1510 / 9–1212 / 10–1317 / 15–1926 / 24–2734 / 32–3541 / 39–4244 / 42–44
RH %59 / 57–6160 / 58–6260 / 58–6160 / 59–6160 / 59–6160 / 59–6261 / 60–6261 / 60–6259 / 58–6160 / 58–6059 / 58–6159 / 57–61
How this section is made
Each figure is the median across the 37 grid cells holding the 61 in-range records, with the 10th–90th percentile span across those cells after the slash where it differs. A dash is a month one or more of those cells has no figure for in the grid (a variable CHELSA does not carry there), so no median is taken rather than one over fewer cells. Extremes and elevation were read at a typical spot in the range, cell 2644:7075 (-42.225, 173.775). Over 44 years there: absolute minimum -3.6 °C, 1st-percentile night -0.5 °C, 99th-percentile day 27.1 °C. Normals: CHELSA V2.1 1981–2010 climatology, 0.05° cells (each the mean of ~36 1 km pixels). Across the range: median and 10th–90th percentile of each month across the 37 distinct grid cells holding 61 of the 61 in-range records; extremes and elevation at the typical cell 2644:7075 (its coldest month's mean nightly low nearest the median across cells); its position is the cell centre. Extremes: NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell -42.00_173.750, lapse-corrected -63 m at 6.5 °C/km. Elevation: ETOPO 2022, 514 m (cell mean).

Natural habitat

Native range as published by WCVP; the marker is where the records are densest and decides nothing: the climate was read across the cells of the in-range records placed well enough to read one, not at the marker.
Openly licensed records inside the range, framed on where they fall.
NativeNew Zealand South · regions are the level-3 units of the World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions, as Kew's World Checklist records ranges, some under historical names such as Yugoslavia or Czechoslovakia (how).
Map marker-42.258, 173.653 · in the densest population, 157 records (97% of those in range)
Kew's description“temperate” · quoted from WCVP, RBG Kew (CC BY 4.0); not derived here
Evidence usedThe map marker rests on all 162 georeferenced records inside the native range; the climate across the range on the 61 of them placed to within 10 km; the map shows only the 123 openly licensed ones, which alone would put the marker 2 km away. 6 records outside the WCVP native range not used. 101 in-range records are placed to worse than 10 km, or with no stated accuracy (admitted only as a person's observation to three decimals), and stay on the map but off the climate.
Other GBIF keysRecords also from GBIF's key 5559887 (Hebe hulkeana (F.Muell.) Cockayne & Allan): Kew's file holds it as Hebe hulkeana (F.Muell. ex Hook.f.) Andersen (synonym under Veronica hulkeana F.Muell. ex Hook.f.); 3 records, from GBIF's search API on the day of the build.
How this section is made
The map marker: the openly licensed record nearest the middle of the densest 1° population of the 162 in-range records; it decides nothing. Records outside the native range, living specimens and records marked introduced are not used; which records count.

Photographs

Veronica hulkeana, photograph 1did not loadVeronica hulkeana, photograph 2did not loadVeronica hulkeana, photograph 3did not loadVeronica hulkeana, photograph 4did not loadVeronica hulkeana, photograph 5did not loadVeronica hulkeana, photograph 6did not load

Photographs: naturewatchwidow, CC BY, iNaturalist via GBIF; Joe Dillon, CC BY, iNaturalist via GBIF; Benjamin Lavin, CC BY, iNaturalist via GBIF (4).

Similar habitat climate The 6 nearest by mean daily high, mean nightly low and rain, month by month. How.

Sophora prostrata Sophora prostrata Prostrate kowhai Photo: CC BY, Genevieve EarlyMuehlenbeckia ephedroides Muehlenbeckia ephedroides Leafless Pōhuehue Photo: CC BY, Liadan Dickie Shawia coriacea Asteraceae Pachystegia insignis Pachystegia insignis Marlborough daisy Photo: CC BY, Andrew ParkerOlearia phlogopappa Olearia phlogopappa Dusty daisybush Photo: CC BY, Eamonn CulhaneCoprosma hirtella Coprosma hirtella Rough coprosma Photo: CC BY, Elspeth Swan

Other Veronica 179 in the reference

Veronica adamsii Veronica adamsii Adams' Koromiko Photo: CC0, author not statedVeronica agrestis Veronica agrestis Green field-speedwell Photo: CC0, author not statedVeronica albicans Veronica albicans Veronica recurva Photo: CC BY, Kate McAlpineVeronica allionii Veronica allionii Plantaginaceae Photo: CC BY, Augustin SoulardVeronica alpina Veronica alpina Alpine speedwell Photo: CC0, author not statedVeronica americana Veronica americana American speedwell Photo: CC BY, IDClaireVeronica amplexicaulis Veronica amplexicaulis Plantaginaceae Photo: CC BY, Pieter PelserVeronica anagallis-aquatica Veronica anagallis-aquatica Blue water-speedwell Photo: CC BY, Jason GrantVeronica × andersonii Veronica × andersonii Plantaginaceae Photo: CC BY, jonno_99Veronica aphylla Veronica aphylla Largeflower Speedwell Photo: CC0, author not statedVeronica armena Veronica armena Armenian speedwell Photo: CC BY-SA, Grzegorz GrzejszczakVeronica armstrongii Veronica armstrongii Armstrong's Whipcord Photo: CC BY-SA, Nick all 180 ›

Names & registers

GBIFPOWOIPNIWFOWikidataWikipediaiNaturalist

The record

Family
Plantaginaceae
Described by
F.Muell. ex Hook.f.
Native to
New Zealand South
Wild records
162 in range · 123 open

Every figure here is derived from public data by a stated rule and names its source; nothing about this species is written for its page by a person or by AI, apart from the marked, credited quotations. How →

Where this page came from built 2026-10-22
GBIF species record gbif.species answeredasked 2026-10-22GBIF's key 7332233 is Veronica hulkeana F.Muell. ex Hook.fil.; the page links Kew's Veronica hulkeana F.Muell. ex Hook.f., and the name is cited as Kew cites it
GBIF synonyms gbif.synonyms answeredasked 2026-10-22
GBIF common names gbif.vernacular answeredasked 2026-10-22names fetched 2026-10-22
WCVP native range wcvp.distribution answeredas of 2026-06-04
GBIF occurrence records gbif.occurrences answeredasked 2026-10-22GBIF occurrence download https://doi.org/10.15468/dl.hbdw64, of 2026-10-21; 3 records of GBIF's key 5559887, Hebe hulkeana (F.Muell.) Cockayne & Allan (Kew's file holds it as Hebe hulkeana (F.Muell. ex Hook.f.) Andersen (synonym under Veronica hulkeana F.Muell. ex Hook.f.)): GBIF occurrence search API; 9 records within 1 km of a botanic garden, herbarium or zoo left out (7 at a botanic garden or arboretum, 2 at a herbarium; Wikidata's list)
Habitat climate climate answeredasked 2026-10-22
Daily extremes (NASA POWER) climate.extremes answeredasked 2026-10-22NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell -42.00_173.750, lapse-corrected -63 m at 6.5 °C/km
Wikidata wikidata answeredasked 2026-10-22
Wikipedia wikipedia answeredasked 2026-10-22
iNaturalist photographs, wild inat.photos.wild nothing to reportasked 2026-10-22from iNaturalist's open data of 2026-09-27: research-grade observations with an open-licence photograph, the 24 whose photographs iNaturalist received last (the open data holds no votes); filled 2026-10-22
iNaturalist photographs, cultivated inat.photos.cultivated not asked
GBIF media gbif.media answeredasked 2026-10-22
OpenAlex papers openalex not askednot yet asked for this reference; a later fill takes the papers from OpenAlex's snapshot

Every source is recorded as having answered, reported nothing, refused, failed, not been asked, or answered twice where one answer is taken (“not taken: two items answered”), and, for a source asked when this page was built, when: the figures are as the source held them that day; a source read from a file (Kew's World Checklist, a GBIF download) says "as of" the file's day instead; a row carried from an earlier build of the page names that build instead. Only “nothing to report” is ever shown as an absence. Records came from 10 datasets via GBIF.org; each carries its own licence.

Cultifolio

Opening your plants…