Gunnera manicata, known as Brazilian giant-rhubarb[1] or giant rhubarb,[2] is a species of flowering plant in the family Gunneraceae from the coastal Serra do Mar Mountains of Santa Catarina, Parana and Rio Grande do Sul States, Brazil.[3][4]

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

It is a large, clump-forming herbaceous perennial 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.[5] 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. However, it is primarily cultivated for its massive leaves.[4] Like most Gunneras, it has a symbiotic relationship with certain blue-green algae which provide nitrogen by fixation.

This plant grows best in damp conditions such as near garden ponds, but dislikes winter cold and wet.[6]

Despite the common name "giant rhubarb", this plant 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.^{[citation needed]}

It 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.[7]

References

External links

• Pink, A. (2004). Gardening for the Million. Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.
• Gunnera manicata

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Gunnera manicata.

На других языках

[ru] Гуннера влагалищная