Hebe salicifolia (G.Forst.) Pennell

Koromiko

Accepted name: Veronica salicifolia

Shrub to 3 m or more tall. Leaves mostly 5-14 cm long, 1-2 cm wide, narrowly lanceolate, willow-like, entire or with a few minute teeth, leaf bud with a sinus. Flower clusters drooping, in narrow spikes to 20 cm or more long although the length is variable. Flowers white to pale lilac.

New Zealand, Chile

This is a South Island Hebe: North Island plants previously included under this name are now referred to H. stricta, which has leaf buds without a sinus.

Source: Spencer, R. (2002). Scrophulariaceae. In: Spencer, R.. Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Australia. Volume 4. Flowering plants. Dicotyledons. Part 3. The identification of garden and cultivated plants. University of New South Wales Press.

Hebe salicifolia 'Rosea'

Flowers pinkish.

A cultivar of unknown origin.

Hebe salicifolia 'Variegata'

A smaller-growing plant with pale grey-green mottling in the centre and broad, cream-coloured margins.