Gunnera tinctoria
Common name
Chilean rhubarb
Family
Gunneraceae
Flora category
Vascular – Exotic
Structural class
Herbs - Dicotyledons other than Composites
Brief description
Giant rhubarb-like herb, dying back to the large creeping stems over winter, with huge prickly leaves up to 2.5 m tall and large sausage-like flower spikes up to 1 m tall with tiny flowers and fruit covering the spike.
Distribution
Very scattered throughout New Zealand, but commonest in high rainfall areas, e.g. South Taranaki, Westland
Habitat
Margins of wetlands, damp cliffs and banks, often in light shade.
Features
Giant, clump-forming, gynomonoecious, summergreen herb, with short, stout, horizontal rhizomes. Winter resting buds massive, to about 25cm long. Lvs to about 2.5 m high, rhubarb-like, but rough to the touch. Petiole to 1m long, studded with conic, short, often reddish, prickles. Inflorescence spike-like and up to 1 m long, with very small flowers. small round orange fruit 1.5-2 mm long.
Similar taxa
Very identifiable plant. Some specimens in cultivation have been called G. manicata, perhaps in error but perhaps to avoid the prohibition on growing G. tinctoria. These always have a much more lax flowering spike. But otherwise are very similar dimensions to G. manicata.
Flowering
October and November
Flower colours
Green, Red/Pink
Fruiting
Autumn
Life cycle
Perennial. Gynomonoecious, i.e. has female and hermaphrodite flowers on the same plant. Reproduces by seed, and massive rhizomes. Huge amounts of seed with high viability is produced. No information on seed longevity. Seed spread by birds and water, rhizomes by deliberate plantings, soil movement.
Year naturalised
1968
Origin
Chile to Colombia in the Andes
Reason for introduction
Ornamental plant
Control techniques
Can be controlled manually, mechanically or herbicidally depending on situation.
Tolerances
Extremely tolerant of salt, wide variety of soil conditions, very wet swampy sites to dry banks.
Etymology
gunnera: Named after Bishop Gunner, a Swedish botanist
Attribution
Factsheet prepared by Paul Champion and Deborah Hofstra (NIWA). Features description from Webb et al., (1988).
References and further reading
Webb, C.J.; Sykes, W.R.; Garnock-Jones, P.J. (1988). Flora of New Zealand Volume 4: Naturalised pteridophytes, gymnosperms, dicotyledons. Botany Division, DSIR, Christchurch.
Popay et al (2010). An illustrated guide to common weeds of New Zealand, third edition. NZ Plant Protection Society Inc, 416pp.
Williams, PA; Ogle, CC, Timmins, SM; La Cock, G; Clarkson, J (2005). Chilean rhubarb (Gunnera tinctoria); biology, ecology and conservation impacts in New Zealand.
DOC Research & Development Series no.210. Dept of Conservation, Wellington.