Gunnera magellanica
| Gunnera magellanica | |
|---|---|
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Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Order: | Gunnerales |
| Family: | Gunneraceae |
| Genus: | Gunnera |
| Species: | G. magellanica
|
| Binomial name | |
| 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 subpolar forests and Valdivian temperate forests,[3] and shrub formations on Tierra del Fuego, with an altitudinal range from sea level to 1,500 m (4,920 ft).
Description
[edit]Unlike its congeners, G. tinctoria and G. manicata, the leaves are small, approximately 6 cm (2.4 in) across. They are rounded or kidney-shaped, stipulate on long (2–10 cm (0.79–3.94 in)) 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
[edit]Gunnera magellanica was first described Jean-Baptiste Lamarck in Encyclopédie Méthodique, Botanique 3: 61, t. 801, f. 2. 1789.[4]
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.
- Gunnera falklandica Hook.
- Gunnera integrifolia Blume
- Gunnera plicata Vahl
- Gunnera reniformis Gay ex Blume
- Misandra magellanica (Lam.) J.F. Gmel. [5]
In popular culture
[edit]Vernacular names
[edit]Vernacular names are frutilla del diablo in Spanish, and in English on the Falkland Islands it is called pigvine or pig vine.[6]
Garden plant
[edit]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 dioecious and both male and female plants are needed.[7]
Stamps
[edit]G. magellanica featured on the 1½ d. stamp of the 1968 "Floral Issue" of Falkland Island postage stamps.[8]
References
[edit]- ^ Reiche, Karl (1898). Flora de Chile. Vol. 2. Santiago de Chile: Imprenta Cervantes. pp. 273–274. OCLC: 12918229.
- ^ "Gunnera magellanica". Global Biodiversity Information Facility. 1 July 2013. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
- ^ "Valdivian Temperate Flooded & Swamp Forest". NatureServe Explorer. The Nature Conservancy.
- ^ "Gunnera magellanica". Tropicos.org. Missouri Botanical Garden. Retrieved 1 February 2013.
- ^ "Gunnera magellanica". World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. Retrieved 1 February 2013.
- ^ Bernadette Hince (10 November 2000). The Antarctic Dictionary: A Complete Guide to Antarctic English. Csiro Publishing. p. 263. ISBN 978-0-643-10232-3.
- ^ "Gunnera magellanica". Alpine Garden Society. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
- ^ "Falkland Islands". stamptraders.com.
Bibliography
[edit]- Foster, R. C. 1958. A catalogue of the ferns and flowering plants of Bolivia. Contr. Gray Herb. 184: 1–223.
- Jørgensen, P. M. & C. Ulloa Ulloa. 1994. Seed plants of the high Andes of Ecuador---A checklist. AAU Rep. 34: 1–443.
- 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.
- 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.
- Macbride, J. F. 1959. Haloragaceae, Flora of Peru. Publ. Field Mus. Nat. Hist., Bot. Ser. 13(5/1): 3–8.
- Marticorena, C. & M. Quezada. 1985. Catálogo de la Flora Vascular de Chile. Gayana, Bot. 42: 1–157.
- 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.
- 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.
External links
[edit]
- Reiche's Flora de Chile, account of Genus Gunnera (pdf) at eFloras.
- Gunnera magellanica at Shoot Gardening.
- Gunnera magellanica at Enciclopedia de la Flora Chileana.
- Gunnera magellanica at the Alpine Garden Society Plant Encyclopedia.