Gunnera tinctoria

Botanical Description

Gunnera tinctoria is a herbaceous, perennial plant forming a cluster of large leaves on long prickly petioles and looking rather like a giant rhubarb plant. Growing from a large, woody rootstock, the petioles can be 200cm or more tall in good conditions surmounted by a large, somewhat thorny leaf that can be 150cm or more wide. The plant spreads (usually quite slowly) by short rhizomes to form a large clump. The plant is harvested from the wild for local use as a food, medicine and source of materials. A popular food in Chile, where it is known as 'nalcas', the plant is commonly harvested from the wild and often sold in local markets[ 1922 Title Gunneraceae Publication Flora Neotropica Monograph 109 Author Mora-Osejo L.E., Pabón-Mora N. & González F. Publisher The New York Botanical Garden Press; New York Year 2011 ISBN 978-0-89327-508-2 Description ]. The plant is widely grown as an ornamental in gardens, where it can be used as an effective ground cover. Gunnera tinctoria is widely planted as an ornamental in gardens and parks. Especially in regions with moist climates and mild winters, the plant has escaped from cultivation and become naturalized to form dense monospecific stands that shade out other plants - large stands have been produced on the west coast of Ireland, southwest England, the west coast of Scotland, the Azores, the coast of California and New Zealand where dense local infestations are found on coastal cliffs. It can spread from rhizomes discarded from gardens and from seed disseminated by birds and is a threat to native vegetation. Its sale and further cultivation is now prohibited in Ireland and New Zealand where eradication programmes are underway[ 1093 Title Invasive Species Compendium Publication Author Website http://www.cabi.org Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description An immense resource - in depth information on over 900 species of invasive plants (it also has information on animals, fungi etc). ].