Hebe breviracemosa is an plant

Plant

Plants are living organisms belonging to the kingdom Plantae. Precise definitions of the kingdom vary, but as the term is used here, plants include familiar organisms such as trees, flowers, herbs, bushes, grasses, vines, ferns, mosses, and green algae. The group is also called green plants or...

 of the family

Family (biology)

In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...

 Plantaginaceae

Plantaginaceae

Plantaginaceae Juss. or plantain family, are a family of flowering plants in the order Lamiales. The type genus is Plantago L..In older classifications it used to be the only family of the order Plantaginales, but numerous phylogenetic studies, summarized by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group, have...

 native to Raoul Island

Raoul Island

Anvil-shaped Raoul Island , the largest and northernmost of the main Kermadec Islands, , has been the source of vigorous volcanic activity during the past several thousand years that was dominated by dacitic explosive eruptions.The area of the island, including fringing islets and rocks...

, Kermadec Islands

Kermadec Islands

The Kermadec Islands are a subtropical island arc in the South Pacific Ocean northeast of New Zealand's North Island, and a similar distance southwest of Tonga...

 Group, New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

found in coastal cliffs and headlands.

History

Once thought to be extinct, this species is very rare on Raoul Island. The species was thought to be eliminated by goats. When the last goat was shot in 1983 on exactly the same day, a single hebe was rediscovered by a goat hunter. Until 1997, this was the only plant known from the wild. However, as a part of a weed eradication program, people searching the steep, volcanic cliffs of Raoul Island discovered fifty plants. Cuttings and seedings raised from these plants are now being planted across Raoul Island. Nevertheless, the species still remains at severe risk of extinction, mainly through weed invasion of its unstable, volcanic cliff habitat.

Features

In warmer parts of the country this species can flower throughout the year, further south it generally flowers during the summer months. Fruits may be found throughout the year, but are more common in the summer.

External links

• New Zealand Plant Conservation Network