Gunnera magellanica

Gunnera magellanica is a perennial rhizomatous dioeceous herb native to Chile,[1] Argentina and the Falkland Islands, and Andean areas of Peru, Ecuador.[2] In the southern part of its range it grows in damper parts of the Magellanic Forests, and shrub formations on Tierra del Fuego, with an altitudinal range from sea level to 1500m.

Gunnera magellanica
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Gunnerales
Family: Gunneraceae
Genus: Gunnera
Species:
G. magellanica
Binomial name
Gunnera magellanica

Description

Unlike its congeners, G. tinctoria and G. manicata, the leaves are small, approximately 6 cm across. They are rounded or kidney-shaped, stipulate on long (2–10 cm) petioles, with crenate edges.

Flowers are unisexual, with female inflorescences shorter than male ones. The fruit is a bright red berry (drupe) 3–5 mm in diameter.

The leaves die back in the austral autumn, so G. magellanica perennates as under-ground rhizomes, and is therefore classified as a cryptophyte.

Taxonomy

Gunnera magellanica was first described Jean-Baptiste Lamarck in Encyclopédie Méthodique, Botanique 3: 61, t. 801, f. 2. 1789.[3]

Etymology

Gunnera: the generic name honours the Norwegian botanist and bishop Johan Ernst Gunnerus.

magellanica: geographical epithet referring to its distribution in proximity to the Magellan Straits.

Synonyms
  • Gunnera falklandica Hook.
  • Gunnera integrifolia Blume
  • Gunnera plicata Vahl
  • Gunnera reniformis Gay ex Blume
  • Misandra magellanica (Lam.) J.F. Gmel. [4]

Vernacular Names

Vernacular names are Frutilla del Diablo in Spanish, and in English on the Falkland Islands it is called Pigvine or Pig Vine.[5]

Garden plant

Gardeners in English-speaking countries know it as baby gunnera, devil's strawberry (probably a direct translation of the Spanish name) or dwarf rhubarb. As a garden plant G. magellanica can be used as ground cover, but is sometimes invasive. It rarely fruits as it is dioecous and both male and female plants are needed.[6]

Stamps

G. magellanica featured on the 1½ d. stamp of the 1968 "Floral Issue" of Falkland Island postage stamps.[7]

References
  1. Reiche, Karl (1898). Flora de Chile. 2. Santiago de Chile: Imprenta Cervantes. pp. 273–274. OCLC: 12918229.
  2. GBIF Backbone Taxonomy (1 July 2013). "Gunnera magellanica". The Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
  3. "Gunnera magellanica". Tropicos.org. Missouri Botanical Garden. Retrieved 1 February 2013.
  4. "Gunnera magellanica". World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. Retrieved 1 February 2013.
  5. Bernadette Hince (10 November 2000). The Antarctic Dictionary: A Complete Guide to Antarctic English. Csiro Publishing. p. 263. ISBN 978-0-643-10232-3.
  6. Alpine Garden Society. "Gunnera magellanica". Alpine Garden Society. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
  7. http://www.stamptraders.com/falkland/Gallary5.html

Bibliography
  1. Foster, R. C. 1958. A catalogue of the ferns and flowering plants of Bolivia. Contr. Gray Herb. 184: 1–223.
  2. Jørgensen, P. M. & C. Ulloa Ulloa. 1994. Seed plants of the high Andes of Ecuador---A checklist. AAU Rep. 34: 1–443.
  3. Jørgensen, P. M. & S. León-Yánez. (eds.) 1999. Catalogue of the vascular plants of Ecuador. Monogr. Syst. Bot. Missouri Bot. Gard. 75: i–viii, 1–1181.
  4. Luteyn, J. L. 1999. Páramos, a checklist of plant diversity, geographical distribution, and botanical literature. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 84: viii–xv, 1–278.
  5. Macbride, J. F. 1959. Haloragaceae, Flora of Peru. Publ. Field Mus. Nat. Hist., Bot. Ser. 13(5/1): 3–8.
  6. Marticorena, C. & M. Quezada. 1985. Catálogo de la Flora Vascular de Chile. Gayana, Bot. 42: 1–157.
  7. Mora-Osejo, L. 1984. Haloragaceae. 3: 1–178. In P. Pinto-Escobar & P. M. Ruiz (eds.) Fl. Colombia. Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Santafé de Bogotá.
  8. Zuloaga, F. O., O. Morrone, M. J. Belgrano, C. Marticorena & E. Marchesi. (eds.) 2008. Catálogo de las Plantas Vasculares del Cono Sur (Argentina, Sur de Brasil, Chile, Paraguay y Uruguay). Monogr. Syst. Bot. Missouri Bot. Gard. 107(1): i–xcvi, 1–983; 107(2): i–xx, 985–2286; 107(3): i–xxi, 2287–3348.

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