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Riverhead speedwell is a threatened creeping New Zealand plant known from only three wild individuals in one shaded, damp reserve near Auckland. It is best grown from cuttings or divisions in a sunny spot with a little shade and gritty, free-draining mix, and it is prone to powdery mildew and die-back in late summer and autumn.
Veronica jovellanoides, commonly known as Riverhead speedwell, is a threatened flowering plant in the family Plantaginaceae. It is endemic to New Zealand, where only three plants are known in the wild. All are found within the Ernest Morgan Reserve, a 20 ha forest northwest of Auckland. Its discovery is accredited to a retired plant nursery owner, Geoff Davidson, who organised the land's protection a few decades prior, and found it by chance on a walk in November 2007.
V. jovellanoides has a prostrate growth habit, forming large 2 to 3 m (6.6 to 9.8 ft) mats on the ground, and long stems with small, spatula-shaped leaves. Flowering begins in spring (September to November in New Zealand), producing small four-petalled white flowers which have a purple ring around their throats; the inner and centre-most section of the flower.
V. jovellanoides is easily grown from both rooted pieces and stem cuttings, but growing from seed has not been tested as of 2009. Plants grown in Wellington have been observed to be very susceptible to a powdery mildew, though at Davidson's nursery in Auckland, where other nearby plants were being affected by a mildew, V. jovellanoides was not. In late summer (February in New Zealand) and autumn (March to May) it has been recorded dying back and becoming more difficult to maintain generally. It grows best in a sunny spot with only a small amount of shade and through some scoria pebbles or a similarly gritty material.
V. jovellanoides is endemic to New Zealand and occurs only (as of 2009) in the upper North Island in the Ernest Morgan Reserve northwest of Auckland. The 20 ha (49-acre) reserve was formed in 1985 when the land was bought from the landowners by a combination of the NZ Native Forests Restoration Trust, the Auckland Regional Authority and the Queen Elizabeth II National Trust (who were chosen to administer it).
Speedwell · Veronica pimeleoides · Veronica sect. Hebe · French Speedwell · Green field speedwell · Veronica Recurva · Alpine speedwell · American speedwell · Water speedwell · Leafless-stemmed speedwell · Veronica arcuata · Veronica arenaria
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Veronica jovellanoides by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
