Gunnera

Gunnera is a genus of herbaceous flowering plants, the only member of the family Gunneraceae. Some species have extremely large leaves. It is native to Latin America, Australia, New Zealand, Papuasia, Hawaii, insular Southeast Asia, Africa, and Madagascar.

Description

The 40–50 species vary enormously in leaf size. The Giant Rhubarb, or Campos des Loges (Gunnera manicata), native to the Serra do Mar mountains of southeastern Brazil, is perhaps the largest species, with leaves typically 1.5 to 2.0 meters (4.9 to 6.6 ft) long, not including the thick, succulent leaf stalk (petiole) of up to 2.5 meters (8.2 feet) in length. The width is typically 2.5 meters (8.2 feet), but on two separate occasions cultivated specimens (In Berkeshire, England in 2011 and at Narrowwater, Ulster, Ireland in 1903) produced leaves fully 3.3 meters (11 feet) in width, making these leaves quite probably the largest of all dicot leaves. The seeds germinate best in very moist, but not wet, conditions and temperatures of 22–29 °C.