Gunnera

Gunnera is the sole genus of herbaceous flowering plants in the

family Gunneraceae, which contains 63 species. Some species have Gunnera
extremely large leaves. Species in the genus are variously native to
Latin America, Australia, New Zealand, Papuasia, Hawaii, insular
Southeast Asia, Africa, and Madagascar.[2] The stalks of many
species are edible.

Contents
Description Gunnera tinctoria at the San

Taxonomy Francisco Botanical Garden at

Strybing Arboretum
Cyanobacterial symbiosis
Uses Scientific classification

References Kingdom: Plantae

External links Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Description Clade: Eudicots
Order: Gunnerales
The 40–50 species vary enormously in leaf size. The giant rhubarb,
or Campos des Loges (Gunnera manicata), native to the Serra do Family: Gunneraceae
Mar mountains of southeastern Brazil, is perhaps the largest species, Genus: Gunnera
with reniform or sub-reniform leaves typically 1.5 to 2.0 meters (4.9
L.
to 6.6 ft) long, not including the thick, succulent petiole which may
be up to 2.5 meters (8.2 feet) in length. The width of the leaf blade
is typically 2.5 meters (8.2 feet), but on two separate occasions
cultivated specimens (In Devon, England in 2011[3] and at
Narrowwater, Ulster, Ireland[4] in 1903) produced leaves fully 3.3
meters (11 feet) in width, not far from the largest of all dicot leaves
such as Victoria amazonica. The seeds germinate best in very moist,
but not wet, conditions and temperatures of 22–29 °C. The range of the genus Gunnera[1]

Only slightly smaller is G. masafuerae of the Juan Fernandez Synonyms[2]

Islands off the Chilean coast. They can have leaves up to 2.9 m (9 ft
6 in) in width on stout leaf stalks 1.5 m (4.9 ft) long and 11 cm Milligania Hook.f., rejected
(4.3 in) thick according to Skottsberg.[5] these leafstalks or petioles name
are the thickest of any dicot, and probably also the most massive.
On nearby Isla Más Afuera, G. peltata frequently has an upright Panke Molina
trunk to 5.5 m (18 ft) in height by 25–30 cm (9.8–11.8 in) thick,
Pankea Oerst.
bearing leaves up to 2 m (6 ft 7 in) wide. The Hoja de Pantano (G.
magnifica) of the Colombian Andes bears the largest leaf buds of
any plant; up to 60 cm (2.0 ft) long and 40 cm (16 in) thick.[6] The succulent leaf stalks are up to 2.7 m (8 ft
10 in) long. The massive inflorescence of small, reddish flowers is up to 2.3 m (7 ft 7 in) long and weighs
about 13 kg. Other giant Gunnera species are found throughout the Neotropics and Hawaii. Gunnera insignis
is also known by the name "poor man's umbrella" in Costa Rica.

Several small species are found in New Zealand, notably G. albocarpa, with leaves only 1–2 cm long, and
also in South America, with G. magellanica having leaves 5–9 cm wide on stalks 8–15 cm long.

Taxonomy
The genus Gunnera was named after the Norwegian botanist Johann
Ernst Gunnerus. At first it was assigned to the family Haloragaceae,
though that presented difficulties that led to the general recognition of the
family Gunneraceae, as had been proposed about the beginning of the
20th century. In the meantime in many publications it had been referred
to as being in the Haloragaceae, variously misspelt (as for example
"Halorrhagidaceae".[7]) Such references still cause difficulties in
consulting earlier works. However, currently Gunnera is firmly assigned Gunnera manicata Devon,
to the monogeneric family Gunneraceae.[8] England

Species[2]

1. Gunnera aequatoriensis - Ecuador

2. Gunnera albocarpa - New Zealand
3. Gunnera annae - Peru, Bolivia
4. Gunnera antioquensis L.E.Mora - Colombia
5. Gunnera apiculata - Bolivia, Argentina
6. Gunnera arenaria - New Zealand
7. Gunnera atropurpurea - Colombia, Ecuador Gunnera insignis Costa Rica
8. Gunnera berteroi - Bolivia, Argentina, Chile
9. Gunnera bogotana - Colombia
10. Gunnera bolivari - Peru, Ecuador
11. Gunnera bracteata - Robinson Crusoe Island in Chile
12. Gunnera brephogea - Colombia, Ecuador, Peru
13. Gunnera caucana - Colombia
14. Gunnera colombiana - Colombia, Ecuador
15. Gunnera cordifolia - Tasmania
16. Gunnera cuatrecasasii - Colombia
17. Gunnera densiflora - New Zealand
18. Gunnera dentata - New Zealand
19. Gunnera diazii - Colombia
20. Gunnera flavida - New Zealand
21. Gunnera garciae-barrigae - Colombia
22. Gunnera hamiltonii - New Zealand
23. Gunnera hernandezii - Colombia
24. Gunnera herteri Osten - Uruguay, S Brazil
25. Gunnera insignis - Panama, Nicaragua, Costa Rica
26. Gunnera kauaiensis - Kauai in Hawaii
27. Gunnera killipiana - Chiapas, Guatemala, Honduras
28. Gunnera lobata - Tierra del Fuego
29. Gunnera lozanoi - Colombia
30. Gunnera macrophylla - Papuasia, Indonesia, Philippines
31. Gunnera magellanica - W + S South America, Falkland Is.
32. Gunnera magnifica - Colombia
33. Gunnera manicata - S Brazil
34. Gunnera margaretae - Peru, Bolivia
35. Gunnera masafuerae - Alejandro Selkirk Island (Isla Mas
Afuera) in Chile
36. Gunnera mexicana - Veracruz, Chiapas
37. Gunnera mixta - New Zealand
38. Gunnera monoica - New Zealand incl Chatham Islands
39. Gunnera morae - Colombia
40. Gunnera peltata - Robinson Crusoe Island in Chile
41. Gunnera perpensa - Africa, Madagascar
42. Gunnera peruviana - Ecuador, Peru
43. Gunnera petaloidea - Hawaii
44. Gunnera pilosa - Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador
45. Gunnera pittieriana - Venezuela
46. Gunnera prorepens- New Zealand
47. Gunnera quitoensis - Ecuador
48. Gunnera reniformis - New Guinea
49. Gunnera saint-johnii - Colombia
50. Gunnera sanctae-marthae - Colombia
51. Gunnera schindleri - Bolivia, Argentina
52. Gunnera schultesii - Colombia
53. Gunnera silvioana - Ecuador, Colombia
54. Gunnera steyermarkii - Venezuela
55. Gunnera strigosa- New Zealand
56. Gunnera tacueyana - Colombia
57. Gunnera tajumbina - Ecuador, Colombia
58. Gunnera talamancana - Costa Rica, Panama
59. Gunnera tamanensis - Colombia
60. Gunnera tayrona - Colombia
61. Gunnera tinctoria - Chile, Argentina
62. Gunnera venezolana - Venezuela

Cyanobacterial symbiosis
At least some species of Gunnera host endosymbiotic cyanobacteria such as Nostoc punctiforme. The
cyanobacteria provide fixed nitrogen to the plant, while the plant provides fixed carbon to the microbe.[9] The
bacteria enter the plant via glands found at the base of each leaf stalk[1] and initiate an intracellular symbiosis
which is thought to provide the plant with fixed nitrogen in return for fixed carbon for the bacterium. This
intracellular interaction is unique in flowering plants and may provide insights to allow the creation of novel
symbioses between crop plants and cyanobacteria, allowing growth in areas lacking fixed nitrogen in the soil.
Uses
The stalks of G. tinctoria (nalcas), from Southern Chile and Argentina, are edible. Their principal use is fresh
consumption, but also they are prepared in salads, liquor or marmalade. Leaves of this species are used in
covering curanto (a traditional Chilean food).

Gunnera perpensa is a source of traditional medicine in Southern Africa, both in veterinary and human
ailments, largely in obstetric and digestive complaints, but also as a wound dressing.[7] It also is eaten in
various ways, largely the petioles, flower stalks and leaves, fresh and raw, preferably with skins and fibre
removed, which is said to remove bitterness, but also cooked. The plant also is said to be used in making a
beer.[10]

References
1. Bergman, B.; Johansson, C.; Söderbäck, E. (1992). "The Nostoc–Gunnera symbiosis" (https://d
oi.org/10.1111%2Fj.1469-8137.1992.tb00067.x). New Phytologist. 122 (3): 379.
doi:10.1111/j.1469-8137.1992.tb00067.x (https://doi.org/10.1111%2Fj.1469-8137.1992.tb0006
7.x).
2. Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/namedetail.do?nam
e_id=370359)
3. "Abbotsbury Gardens celebrates plant's 'monster' leaves" (https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-engla
nd-berkshire-15308919). BBC. 14 October 2011.
4. The Garden (London) Vol. 63 # 1631 (February 21, 1903) p. 125.
5. Dr Carl Skottsberg, , "The Phanerogams of Juan Fernandez Islands", NATURAL HISTORY OF
JUAN FERNANDEZ AND EASTER ISLAND (Uppsala: Almqvist & Wiksells Buktrykeri A.S.,
1953) Vol. 2 p.151.
6. Dr. Harold St. John, "Gunnera the Magnificent - Giant Herb of Colombia", CHICAGO NATURAL
HISTORY MUSEUM BULLETIN, Vol. 30 # 1 (January 1959) p. 3 plus photo on front cover.
7. Watt, John Mitchell; Breyer-Brandwijk, Maria Gerdina: The Medicinal and Poisonous Plants of
Southern and Eastern Africa 2nd ed Pub. E & S Livingstone 1962 (Described in chapter on
Halorrhagidaceae, p 500)
8. Wanntorp, L. Wanntorp, H-E. Oxelman, B. Källersjö, M. Phylogeny of Gunnera. Plant
Systematics and Evolution Vol. 226, No. 1/2 (March 2001), pp. 85-107 [1] (https://www.jstor.org/
stable/23644101)
9. Francis C. Y. Wong and John C. Meek. Establishment of a functional symbiosis between the
cyanobacterium Nostoc punctiforme and the bryophyte Anthoceros punctatus requires genes
involved in nitrogen control and initiation of heterocyst differentiation. Microbiology (2002), 148,
315-323 [www.microbiologyresearch.org]
10. Fox, Francis William. Food from the veld. Pub: Delta Books (1982) ISBN 978-0908387328

External links
The Gunnera Gallery (http://gunneraceae.googlepages.com/home)
Gunnera magellanica pictures from Chilebosque (http://www.chilebosque.cl/herb/gmage.html)
Global Invasive Species database Gunnera tinctoria (http://www.issg.org/database/species/eco
logy.asp?si=836&fr=1&sts=)
Medicinal plant details Gunnera perpensa (http://www.plantzafrica.com/medmonographs/gunne
rapers.pdf)
Gunnera on Achill Island [2] (https://web.archive.org/web/20070929025603/http://www.achilljou
rnal.com/index.php/2007/03/20/e15000-for-achills-wild-rhubarb/)
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gunnera&oldid=997204148"

This page was last edited on 30 December 2020, at 13:15 (UTC).

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