Veronica pulvinaris: Difference between revisions

 

 

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{{Short description|Species of plant}}{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2025}}

{{Short description|Species of plant}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2025}}

{{Use New Zealand English|date=January 2026}}

{{Speciesbox

{{Speciesbox

| image = Veronica pulvinaris kz03.jpg

|image = Veronica pulvinaris .

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| image_caption = Close-up of flower

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| image2_caption = Habit

| genus = Veronica

| genus = Veronica

| species = pulvinaris

| species = pulvinaris

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| synonyms_ref = <ref name=”POWO_812537-1″ />

| synonyms_ref = <ref name=”POWO_812537-1″ />

| synonyms =

| synonyms =

{{Specieslist

*”Chionohebe pulvinaris” {{small|(Hook.f.) B.G.Briggs & Ehrend.}}

*”Pygmea ciliolata” var. ”pumila” {{small|Ashwin}}

”Pygmea ”{{small|}}

*”Pygmea pulvinaris” {{small|Hook.f.}}

” pulvinaris”{{small|Hook.f.}}

*”Veronica ciliolata” var. ”pumila” {{small|(Ashwin) Garn.-Jones}}

” ciliolata” var. ”pumila” {{small|Ashwin}}

|”Veronica ciliolata” var. ”pumila”|{{small|(Ashwin) Garn.-Jones}}

}}

}}

}}

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== Taxonomy ==

⚫

[[File:Veronica pulvinaris – Pieter Pelser – 1507089.jpeg|thumb|350x350px|Close-up showing leaf hairs]]

”Veronica pulvinaris” is in the plant family [[Plantaginaceae]].<ref name=”POWO_812537-1″ /> [[Joseph Dalton Hooker]] described ”Pygmea pulvinaris” in Volume I of his ”[[Handbook of the New Zealand Flora]]” in 1864.<ref name=”:Hooker”>{{Cite book |last1=Hooker |first1=Joseph Dalton |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/53745640 |title=Handbook of the New Zealand flora : a systematic description of the native plants of New Zealand and the Chatham, Kermadec’s, Lord Auckland’s, and Macquarrie’s islands |last2=Hooker |first2=Joseph Dalton |date=1864 |publisher=Reeve & Co |location=London}}</ref> The species was transferred to the genus ”[[Veronica (plant)|Veronica]]” in 1906 by [[Thomas Cheeseman]]. [[Barbara G. Briggs|Barbara Briggs]] treated the species as ”Chionohebe pulvinaris” in 1976,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Briggs |first=B. G. |last2=Ehrendorfer |first2=F. |date=1976-01-01 |title=Chionohebe, a new name for Pygmea Hook. f. (Scrophulariaceae) |url=https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q100407822 |journal=Contributions from Herbarium Australiense |language=English |volume=1976 |issue=25 |pages=1–4}}</ref> but since 2007 it has been recognised as ”Veronica pulvinaris” by many botanists in a more broadly circumscribed ”[[Veronica (plant)|Veronica]]”.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Garnock-Jones |first=Phil |last2=Albach |first2=Dirk C. |last3=Briggs |first3=Barbara G. |date=2007-05-01 |title=Botanical Names in Southern Hemisphere Veronica (Plantaginaceae): Sect. Detzneria, Sect. Hebe, and Sect. Labiatoides |url=https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q42315868 |journal=Taxon |language=English |volume=56 |issue=2 |pages=571–582 |doi=10.1002/TAX.562028}}</ref><ref name=”:1″>{{Cite journal |last=Meudt |first=Heidi |date=2008-01-01 |title=Taxonomic revision of Australasian snow hebes (Veronica, Plantaginaceae) |url=https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q54561139 |journal=Australian Systematic Botany |language=English |volume=21 |issue=6 |pages=387 |doi=10.1071/SB08034}}</ref>

The type specimen was collected on the summit of Mt Torlesse, Canterbury, by [[Julius von Haast]] in 1860–1.<ref name=”:1″ /> The [[holotype]] is at the herbarium at [[Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew|Royal Botanical Gardens Kew]].<ref name=”:1″ /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Pygmea pulvinaris – Holotype |url=https://plants.jstor.org/stable/10.5555/al.ap.specimen.k000190213 |access-date=23 January 2026 |website=JStor Global Plants}}</ref>

”V. pulvinaris” is one of four cushion plants and six other small herbs or subshrubs in the snow hebe lineage.<ref name=”:4″ /> The distribution and location of hairs are important characters in distinguishing ”V. pulvinaris” from other snow hebe species.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ashwin |first=M.B. |title=Flora of New Zealand |date=1961 |publisher=Government Printer, Wellington. |year=1961 |editor-last=Allan |editor-first=H.H. |pages=870–875 |language=EN |chapter=””Pygmea”}}</ref><ref name=”:1″ /><ref name=”:8″ /> ”Veronica pulvinaris” is characterised by the tips of its ovary and capsule having densely distributed hairs, as well as the leaf surfaces and edges having evenly and sparsely distributed hairs on the upper half.<ref name=”:1″ />

== Description ==

[[File:Veronica pulvinaris – Matt Berger – 248121819.jpeg|thumb|350x350px|Close-up of flowers]]

””’Veronica pulvinaris””’ plants are [[perennial]] cushions with a woody base. Branches are multiple, erect, up to 39 mm long and 4.6 mm wide, and [[Glabrousness|glabrous]] (hairless). Leaves are spirally imbricate, tightly or loosely appressed, sessile, 1.8–4.9 mm long by 0.6–1.8&nbsp;mm wide (length: width ratio 1.7–5.3:1), usually oblanceolate, narrowly obovate or spathulate, widest above the middle, usually with an obtuse apex, and entire. The leaf hairs are unicellular, non-glandular, appressed and up to 1.4 mm long. The inner leaf surface is usually sparsely hairy (or with a few hairs) on the upper half, or rarely glabrous. The outer leaf surface is usually glabrous (or with a few hairs or sparsely hairy on the upper half only). Leaf edges are ciliate mostly on the upper half. Flowers are sessile, solitary and axillary near branch tips, with two bracts. Bracts are 2.2–4.1 mm long and 0.3–0.8 mm wide with an obtuse apex and hairs similar to the leaves but shorter (0.3–0.8 mm long). The calyx is 2.1–4.7&nbsp;mm long, regular, with all lobes divided to the base of the calyx, hairy on the outside and lobe edges and glabrous on the inside. The corolla is 2.6–7.7 mm long (including a 1.6–5.8&nbsp;mm long corolla tube), subregular and white. The corolla lobes are 1.0–2.4 mm long, spreading to erect, narrowly to very broadly obovate. There are 2 stamens, with white filaments 0.2–0.8 mm long and anthers (purple in male flowers) 0.5–1.4 mm long. The style is 2.3–7.0 mm long, exserted, with a capitate stigma. The ovary is 0.5–1.1 mm long and densely hairy at the tip with hairs up to 0.4 mm long. Fruits are capsules with septicidal and loculicidal dehiscence, 1.0–3.0 mm long and 1.2–2.7 mm wide, hairy at the tip. There are up to 11 seeds in each capsule, and seeds are 0.5–0.9 mm long and 0.4–0.6 mm wide, discoid, and smooth.<ref name=”Meudt2006″>{{Cite book |last=Meudt |first=Heidi |url=https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q113682140 |title=Monograph of Ourisia (Plantaginaceae) |date=2006-04-24 |publisher=American Society of Plant Taxonomists |isbn=978-0-912861-77-7 |series=Systematic Botany Monographs |volume=77}}</ref><ref name=”:8″>{{Cite web |title=Flora of New Zealand {{!}} Taxon Profile {{!}} Veronica pulvinaris |url=https://www.nzflora.info/factsheet/taxon/Veronica-pulvinaris.html |access-date=2026-01-25 |website=www.nzflora.info}}</ref>

”Veronica pulvinaris” flowers from November to February and fruits mainly in December and January.<ref name=”:1″ />

The chromosome number of ”Veronica pulvinaris” is 2”n” = 42.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hair |first=J. B. |date=1970-09-01 |title=Contributions to a chromosome atlas of the New Zealand flora—13 Parahebe and Pygmea (Scrophulariaceae) |url=https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q137856126 |journal=New Zealand Journal of Botany |volume=8 |issue=3 |pages=255–258 |doi=10.1080/0028825X.1970.10429126}}</ref>

== Distribution and habitat ==

[[File:Veronica pulvinaris – Matt Berger – 248121860.jpeg|thumb|350x350px|Flowering ”V. pulvinaris” cushion in a rocky alpine habitat near Arthurs Pass, New Zealand]]

”Veronica pulvinars” is endemic to the South Island of New Zealand,<ref name=”POWO_812537-1″ /> including northwest Nelson, Marlborough, Canterbury and possibly Otago, mostly on the eastern side of the main divide.<ref name=”:1″ /> Plants of this species can be found from 600 to 2260 m above sea level in alpine cushion [[herbfield]] or [[fellfield]], usually in rocky areas including bluffs, crevices, stones and scree.<ref name=”:1″ />

== Breeding system and seed dispersal ==

Like all other cushion snow hebes, ”Veronica pulvinaris” is functionally [[Gender dimorphism|gender dimorphic]] ([[Dioecy|dioecious]] or possibly [[Gynodioecy|gynodioecious]])<ref name=”:8″ />. This means individual plants are either male or female (male sterile),<ref name=”:8″ /> and [[outcrossing]] between plants is required to produce seed.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Delph |first=Lynda |date=1990 |title=The evolution of gender dimorphism in New Zealand Hebe (Scorophulariaceae) |url=https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q137856136 |journal=Evolutionary Trends in Plants |language=English |volume=4 |pages=85-97}}</ref><ref name=”:0″>{{Cite journal |last=Wagstaff |first=S. J. |last2=Garnock-Jones |first2=P. J. |date=2000-01-01 |title=Patterns of diversification in Chionohebe and Parahebe (Scrophulariaceae) inferred from ITS sequences |url=https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q137391150 |journal=New Zealand Journal of Botany |volume=38 |issue=3 |pages=389–407}}</ref> The flowers are insect pollinated.<ref name=”:0″ />

Regarding seed dispersal, ”V. pulvinaris” uses [[Hygroscopy#Hygroscopic-assisted propagation examples|hygrochasy]],<ref name=”:2″>{{Cite journal |last=Garnock-Jones |first=Phil |date=1993 |title=Phylogeny of the Hebe Complex (Scrophulariaceae: Veroniceae) |url=https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q55756299 |journal=Australian Systematic Botany |language=English |volume=6 |issue=5 |pages=457 |doi=10.1071/SB9930457}}</ref> which is also known as the “splash cup” method. Thus, the fruiting capsule opens upon exposure to water, and then falling raindrops splash the seeds out of the open capsule.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Pufal |first=Gesine |last2=Ryan |first2=Ken G. |last3=Garnock-Jones |first3=Phil |date=2010-08-26 |title=Hygrochastic capsule dehiscence in New Zealand alpine Veronica (Plantaginaceae) |url=https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q39370706 |journal=American Journal of Botany |language=English |volume=97 |issue=9 |pages=1413–1423 |doi=10.3732/AJB.1000066 |pmid=21616895}}</ref>

== Biochemistry ==

The water-soluble compounds that were isolated and identified from ”V. pulvinaris” and another snow hebe species, ”[[Veronica thomsonii|V. thomsonii]],” showed that the [[iridoid]] chemical profile of these species was different from other New Zealand ”Veronica” species, and more similar to high-elevation species of ”Veronica” from the northern hemisphere”.”<ref name=”:3″>{{Cite journal |last=Taskova |first=Rilka M. |last2=Kokubun |first2=Tetsuo |last3=Ryan |first3=Ken G. |last4=Garnock-Jones |first4=Phil John |last5=Jensen |first5=Soren Rosendal |date=2010-01-01 |title=Phenylethanoid and iridoid glycosides in the New Zealand snow hebes (Veronica, Plantaginaceae). |url=https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q39110064 |journal=Chemical & Pharmaceutical Bulletin |language=English |volume=58 |issue=5 |pages=703–711 |doi=10.1248/CPB.58.703 |pmid=20460800}}</ref> The authors of that study hypothesized that the similar chemical profiles were the result of convergent or parallel evolution due to their similar alpine habitats.<ref name=”:3″ /> In addition, there were some unique compounds that could differentiate ”V. pulvinaris” and ”V. thomsonii” from one another, as well as the two sampled populations of ”V. pulvinars” from the Black Birch Range ([[Marlborough District|Marlborough]]) and [[Mount Arthur (New Zealand)|Mt Arthur]]”.”<ref name=”:3″ />

== Phylogeny ==

Multiple [[Phylogenetics|phylogenetic]] analyses have included multiple New Zealand species of ”Veronica,” including ”Veronica pulvinaris” and other snow hebes, to understand the phylogenetic history of the genus by analysing morphological data<ref name=”:2″ /> and standard DNA sequencing markers such as the [[internal transcribed spacer]] region (ITS),<ref name=”:0″ /><ref name=”:4″>{{Cite journal |last=Albach |first=Dirk C. |last2=Meudt |first2=Heidi |date=2009-09-29 |title=Phylogeny of Veronica in the Southern and Northern Hemispheres based on plastid, nuclear ribosomal and nuclear low-copy DNA. |url=https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q51788139 |journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution |language=English |volume=54 |issue=2 |pages=457–471 |doi=10.1016/J.YMPEV.2009.09.030 |pmid=19796701}}</ref> [[chloroplast DNA]],<ref name=”:4″ /> nuclear low-copy DNA,<ref name=”:4″ /> and phylogenomics.<ref name=”:5″>{{Cite journal |last=Thomas |first=Anne E. |last2=Igea |first2=Javier |last3=Meudt |first3=Heidi |last4=Albach |first4=Dirk C. |last5=Lee |first5=William G. |last6=Tanentzap |first6=Andrew J. |date=2021-06-26 |title=Using target sequence capture to improve the phylogenetic resolution of a rapid radiation in New Zealand Veronica |url=https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q113676621 |journal=American Journal of Botany |language=English |volume=108 |issue=7 |pages=1289–1306 |doi=10.1002/AJB2.1678 |pmid=34173225}}</ref><ref name=”:6″>{{Cite journal |last=Thomas |first=Anne E. |last2=Meudt |first2=Heidi |last3=Larcombe |first3=Matthew J. |last4=Igea |first4=Javier |last5=Lee |first5=William George |last6=Antonelli |first6=Alexandre |last7=Tanentzap |first7=Andrew J. |date=2023-01-01 |title=Multiple origins of mountain biodiversity in New Zealand’s largest plant radiation |url=https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q117074064 |journal=Journal of Biogeography |language=English |doi=10.1111/JBI.14589}}</ref> Broadly speaking, these studies included one or few individuals of ”V. pulvinaris” and the other snow hebe species, showing that they are highly supported within the southern hemisphere lineage of ”Veronica.” In addition, ”V. pulvinaris” is most closely related to the other cushion snow hebe species, ”V. thomsonii, [[Veronica chionohebe|V. chionohebe]]” and ”[[Veronica ciliolata|V. ciliolata]]”, followed by a sub-shrub snow hebe, [[Veronica densifolia|”V. densifolia”]], and sometimes also one or more of the remaining snow hebes that have been sampled in phylogenetic studies, including ”[[Veronica trifida|V. trifida]], [[Veronica planopetiolata|V. planopetiolata]],” or ”[[Veronica spectabilis|V. spectabilis]]”.<ref name=”:0″ /><ref name=”:2″ /><ref name=”:4″ /><ref name=”:5″ /><ref name=”:6″ />

Another study that sampled multiple individuals and populations used [[chloroplast DNA]] and [[Amplified fragment length polymorphism|amplified fragment length polymorphisms]] to understand the [[phylogeography]], species relationships and phylogeny of the snow hebes as a group.<ref name=”:7″>{{Cite journal |last=Meudt |first=Heidi |last2=Bayly |first2=Michael James |date=2008-01-01 |title=Phylogeographic patterns in the Australasian genus Chionohebe (Veronica s.l., Plantaginaceae) based on AFLP and chloroplast DNA sequences |url=https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q30841359 |journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution |language=English |volume=47 |issue=1 |pages=319–338 |doi=10.1016/J.YMPEV.2007.12.019 |pmid=18299210}}</ref> ”Veronica pulvinaris” was highly supported as monophyletic based on AFLP data, and there was geographic structuring within the species.<ref name=”:7″ /> The chloroplast data, on the other had, showed widespread chloroplast haplotype sharing among the cushion snow hebes ”V. pulvinaris, V. thomsonii, V. chionohebe” and ”V. ciliolata.”<ref name=”:7″ />

Two individuals of ”V. pulvinaris” were included in a study that used ”Veronica” [[Transcriptome|transcriptomes]] to develop and validate new sequencing markers for the genus.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Mayland-Quellhorst |first=Eike |last2=Meudt |first2=Heidi |last3=Albach |first3=Dirk C. |date=2016-10-18 |title=Transcriptomic resources and marker validation for diploid and polyploid Veronica (Plantaginaceae) from New Zealand and Europe |url=https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q36175545 |journal=Applications in Plant Sciences |language=English |volume=4 |issue=10 |doi=10.3732/APPS.1600091 |pmc=5077287 |pmid=27785388}}</ref>

==References==

==References==

{{Reflist}}

{{Reflist}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q15374491}}

== Gallery ==

<gallery mode=”packed-hover”>

File:Veronica pulvinaris – naturewatchwidow – 243126788.jpeg|Flowers and leaves

File:Veronica pulvinaris – Pieter Pelser – 1507090.jpeg|Side view of cushion showing imbricate leaves

File:Veronica pulvinaris kz03.jpg|Close-up of flower

File:Veronica pulvinaris kz05.jpg|Habit

File:Veronica pulvinaris – Tim Park – 341559805.jpeg|Habit

</gallery>

== References ==

{{Reflist}}

== External link ==

* [https://www.gbif.org/species/3727207 ”Veronica pulvinaris” ], occurrence data from Global Biodiversity Information Facility

{{Commons category}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q15374491}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q15374491}}

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[[Category:Flora of the South Island]]

[[Category:Flora of the South Island]]

[[Category:Plants described in 1906]]

[[Category:Plants described in 1906]]

{{Plantaginaceae-stub}}

Species of plant

Veronica pulvinaris, one of the cushion snow hebes, is a species of flowering plant in the family Plantaginaceae.^[2] It is endemic to high elevation habitats of the mountains of the northern and central South Island of New Zealand, mostly east of the main divide.^[1] Joseph Dalton Hooker described Pygmea pulvinaris in 1864, which was transferred to the genus Veronica in 1906 by Thomas Cheeseman. Plants of this species are dioecious cushions with small, spirally imbricate, sessile leaves that have sparsely but evenly distributed hairs mostly on the upper half of the leaf surfaces and edges. They also have regular flowers with white tubular corollas with 5 petals and 2 stamens, and both the ovary and capsule have a dense covering of hairs at the apex. The conservation status of V. pulvinaris is not threatened. It is closely related to other snow hebe species, especially the other cushions, V. thomsonii, V. chionohebe and V. ciliolata.

Veronica pulvinaris is in the plant family Plantaginaceae.^[1] Joseph Dalton Hooker described Pygmea pulvinaris in Volume I of his Handbook of the New Zealand Flora in 1864.^[3] The species was transferred to the genus Veronica in 1906 by Thomas Cheeseman. Barbara Briggs treated the species as Chionohebe pulvinaris in 1976,^[4] but since 2007 it has been recognised as Veronica pulvinaris by many botanists in a more broadly circumscribed Veronica.^[5][6]

The type specimen was collected on the summit of Mt Torlesse, Canterbury, by Julius von Haast in 1860–1.^[6] The holotype is at the herbarium at Royal Botanical Gardens Kew.^[6][7]

V. pulvinaris is one of four cushion plants and six other small herbs or subshrubs in the snow hebe lineage.^[8] The distribution and location of hairs are important characters in distinguishing V. pulvinaris from other snow hebe species.^[9][6][10] Veronica pulvinaris is characterised by the tips of its ovary and capsule having densely distributed hairs, as well as the leaf surfaces and edges having evenly and sparsely distributed hairs on the upper half.^[6]

Veronica pulvinaris plants are perennial cushions with a woody base. Branches are multiple, erect, up to 39 mm long and 4.6 mm wide, and glabrous (hairless). Leaves are spirally imbricate, tightly or loosely appressed, sessile, 1.8–4.9 mm long by 0.6–1.8 mm wide (length: width ratio 1.7–5.3:1), usually oblanceolate, narrowly obovate or spathulate, widest above the middle, usually with an obtuse apex, and entire. The leaf hairs are unicellular, non-glandular, appressed and up to 1.4 mm long. The inner leaf surface is usually sparsely hairy (or with a few hairs) on the upper half, or rarely glabrous. The outer leaf surface is usually glabrous (or with a few hairs or sparsely hairy on the upper half only). Leaf edges are ciliate mostly on the upper half. Flowers are sessile, solitary and axillary near branch tips, with two bracts. Bracts are 2.2–4.1 mm long and 0.3–0.8 mm wide with an obtuse apex and hairs similar to the leaves but shorter (0.3–0.8 mm long). The calyx is 2.1–4.7 mm long, regular, with all lobes divided to the base of the calyx, hairy on the outside and lobe edges and glabrous on the inside. The corolla is 2.6–7.7 mm long (including a 1.6–5.8 mm long corolla tube), subregular and white. The corolla lobes are 1.0–2.4 mm long, spreading to erect, narrowly to very broadly obovate. There are 2 stamens, with white filaments 0.2–0.8 mm long and anthers (purple in male flowers) 0.5–1.4 mm long. The style is 2.3–7.0 mm long, exserted, with a capitate stigma. The ovary is 0.5–1.1 mm long and densely hairy at the tip with hairs up to 0.4 mm long. Fruits are capsules with septicidal and loculicidal dehiscence, 1.0–3.0 mm long and 1.2–2.7 mm wide, hairy at the tip. There are up to 11 seeds in each capsule, and seeds are 0.5–0.9 mm long and 0.4–0.6 mm wide, discoid, and smooth.^[11][10]

Veronica pulvinaris flowers from November to February and fruits mainly in December and January.^[6]

The chromosome number of Veronica pulvinaris is 2n = 42.^[12]

Veronica pulvinars is endemic to the South Island of New Zealand,^[1] including northwest Nelson, Marlborough, Canterbury and possibly Otago, mostly on the eastern side of the main divide.^[6] Plants of this species can be found from 600 to 2260 m above sea level in alpine cushion herbfield or fellfield, usually in rocky areas including bluffs, crevices, stones and scree.^[6]

Like all other cushion snow hebes, Veronica pulvinaris is functionally gender dimorphic (dioecious or possibly gynodioecious)^[10]. This means individual plants are either male or female (male sterile),^[10] and outcrossing between plants is required to produce seed.^[13][14] The flowers are insect pollinated.^[14]

Regarding seed dispersal, V. pulvinaris uses hygrochasy,^[15] which is also known as the “splash cup” method. Thus, the fruiting capsule opens upon exposure to water, and then falling raindrops splash the seeds out of the open capsule.^[16]

The water-soluble compounds that were isolated and identified from V. pulvinaris and another snow hebe species, V. thomsonii, showed that the iridoid chemical profile of these species was different from other New Zealand Veronica species, and more similar to high-elevation species of Veronica from the northern hemisphere.^[17] The authors of that study hypothesized that the similar chemical profiles were the result of convergent or parallel evolution due to their similar alpine habitats.^[17] In addition, there were some unique compounds that could differentiate V. pulvinaris and V. thomsonii from one another, as well as the two sampled populations of V. pulvinars from the Black Birch Range (Marlborough) and Mt Arthur.^[17]

Multiple phylogenetic analyses have included multiple New Zealand species of Veronica, including Veronica pulvinaris and other snow hebes, to understand the phylogenetic history of the genus by analysing morphological data^[15] and standard DNA sequencing markers such as the internal transcribed spacer region (ITS),^[14][8] chloroplast DNA,^[8] nuclear low-copy DNA,^[8] and phylogenomics.^[18][19] Broadly speaking, these studies included one or few individuals of V. pulvinaris and the other snow hebe species, showing that they are highly supported within the southern hemisphere lineage of Veronica. In addition, V. pulvinaris is most closely related to the other cushion snow hebe species, V. thomsonii, V. chionohebe and V. ciliolata, followed by a sub-shrub snow hebe, V. densifolia, and sometimes also one or more of the remaining snow hebes that have been sampled in phylogenetic studies, including V. trifida, V. planopetiolata, or V. spectabilis.^{[14][15][8][18][19]}

Another study that sampled multiple individuals and populations used chloroplast DNA and amplified fragment length polymorphisms to understand the phylogeography, species relationships and phylogeny of the snow hebes as a group.^[20] Veronica pulvinaris was highly supported as monophyletic based on AFLP data, and there was geographic structuring within the species.^[20] The chloroplast data, on the other had, showed widespread chloroplast haplotype sharing among the cushion snow hebes V. pulvinaris, V. thomsonii, V. chionohebe and V. ciliolata.^[20]

Two individuals of V. pulvinaris were included in a study that used Veronica transcriptomes to develop and validate new sequencing markers for the genus.^[21]

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  Side view of cushion showing imbricate leaves

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