Gunnera manicata, known as Brazilian giant-rhubarb[1] or giant rhubarb,[2] is a species of flowering plant in the familyGunneraceae from the coastal Serra do Mar Mountains of Santa Catarina, Parana and Rio Grande do Sul States, Brazil.[3][4] In cultivation, the name G. manicata has regularly been wrongly applied to the hybrid with G. tinctoria, G. × cryptica.[5]
Description
Gunnera manicata is a large, clump-forming herbaceousperennial growing to 2.5 m (8 ft) tall by 4 m (13 ft) or more. The leaves of G. manicata grow to an impressive size. Leaves with diameters well in excess of 120 cm (4 ft) are commonplace, with a spread of 3 m × 3 m (10 ft × 10 ft) on a mature plant.The largest on record had leaves up to eleven feet (3.3 meters) in width.[6] The underside of the leaf and the whole stalk have spikes on them. In early summer it bears tiny red-green, dimerous flowers in conical branched panicles, followed by small, spherical fruit. Like most gunneras, it has a symbiotic relationship with certain blue-green algae which provide nitrogen by fixation.
Despite the common name "giant rhubarb" it is not closely related to true rhubarb. It was named after a Norwegian bishop and naturalist Johan Ernst Gunnerus, who also named and published a description about the basking shark.[7]
Distribution
Gunnera manicata is native to the Serra do Mar mountains of coastal Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul states, Brazil, where it is used in traditional medicine for sexually transmitted diseases.[8]
Cultivation
Giant rhubarb came to be widely cultivated in the United Kingdom and Ireland as an ornamental garden plant. It was primarily grown for its massive leaves.[4] It grows best in damp conditions such as near garden ponds, but dislikes winter cold and wet.[9]
^Wanntorp, Livia; Wanntorp, Hans-Erik; Källersjö, Mari (2002-08-01). "The identity of Gunnera manicata Linden ex André - resolving a Brazilian-Colombian enigma". Taxon. 51 (3): 493–497.
^ abRHS A-Z encyclopedia of garden plants. United Kingdom: Dorling Kindersley. 2008. p. 1136. ISBN1405332964.
