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Gunneraceae family

Chilean Gunnera Gunnera tinctoria

Chilean Gunnera is an introduced perennial herb, found in the lower 48 states. It grows to 7 ft.

More about this plant

Gunnera tinctoria, known as giant-rhubarb, Chilean rhubarb, quirusilla or nalca, is a flowering plant species native to southern Chile and neighboring zones in Argentina and Bolivia. It is not closely related to rhubarb, as the two plants belong to different orders, but looks similar from a distance and has similar culinary uses. It is a large-leaved perennial plant that grows to more than 2 m (6.6 ft) tall. It has been introduced to many parts of the world as an ornamental plant. In some countries, such as New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and Ireland, it has spread from gardens and is becoming an introduced species of concern. It is known under the synonyms Gunnera chilensis Lam. and Gunnera scabra Ruiz & Pav. Wikipedia →

⚠ Invasive here — plant a native instead USDA + GBIF

Chilean Gunnera is flagged invasive in the U.S. These natives fill a similar niche — same growth habit, bloom season, height, and region — so you keep the look and feed local wildlife instead of spreading a problem.

Canada Goldenrod
Native
Canada Goldenrod
Solidago altissima
●●●●●
New England Aster
Native ★
New England Aster
Symphyotrichum novae-angliae
●●●●●
Showy Milkweed
Native ★
Showy Milkweed
Asclepias speciosa
●●●●●
White Panicle Aster (var. hesperium)
Native
White Panicle Aster (var. hesperium)
Symphyotrichum lanceolatum subsp. hesperium var. hesperium
●●●●●
Matched on growth habit · bloom months · mature height · shared U.S. range (USDA + GBIF) — a starting point, not a prescription.

Growing & care

USDA PLANTS · TRY
Conditions
Sources · Conditions
Cold hardiness (derived) — Hardiness
Hardiness
≥ zone 11 derived from its U.S. range
Size & form
Sources · Size & form
TRY Plant Trait Database (CC BY 4.0) — Height · Foliage
USDA PLANTS — Lifespan
Height
7 ft
Lifespan
Perennial
Foliage
Broadleaf
In the garden
Shrub layer — Sits in the shrub of a layered food forest or polyculture.Open guide →
derived roles
Species characteristics from USDA PLANTS (public domain) + TRY (CC BY) — general guidance, not a guarantee for your exact site. Deer "browsing" is documented palatability, not a deer-proof claim.
How we know this (2) Methods & honest limits
Leaf build Direct fact

We read each species’ measured specific leaf area (leaf area per unit dry weight) from the Global Spectrum dataset and band it: thin & fast (high SLA), medium, or thick & tough (low SLA). The global median is about 10 mm²/mg.

Honest limits: A species-mean from pooled measurements — individual plants vary with light and site. A broad strategy signal, not a precise per-plant figure.

Díaz, S. et al. (2022) The global spectrum of plant form and function: enhanced species-level trait dataset. Scientific Data 9:755.
Photosynthesis Direct fact

A recorded categorical fact: each species is tagged C3 (standard), C4 (heat/water-efficient) or CAM (succulent, night-time CO₂ uptake) — or a facultative combination. We only show a trait card for the noteworthy C4/CAM cases; C3 is the unremarkable majority, kept in the data but not surfaced as a card.

Kattge, J. et al. TRY plant trait database — Categorical Traits Dataset (2012).
Derived values are computed from open data by a published method — labelled, cited, and never shown as a direct observation. Full methodology →
Sources for this entry (13) Open & cited
[01] Scientific name & family — USDA PLANTS (DwCA, Zenodo 17903503)
[02] Growth habit & duration — USDA PLANTS (DwCA, Zenodo 17903503)
[03] Native status & distribution — USDA PLANTS (DwCA, Zenodo 17903503)
[04] Common name — USDA PLANTS (via GBIF)
[05] Invasive / introduced status — US-RIIS v2.0 (USGS)
[07] Description — Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)
[10] Functional traits — TRY Plant Trait Database (CC BY 4.0)
[11] Photosynthetic pathway — TRY Plant Trait Database (CC BY 4.0)
[12] Cold hardiness (derived) — Derived from U.S. range × USDA PHZM zones
[13] County range — GBIF Open Data — open-licensed occurrences (CC0/CC-BY) → county
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PlantKey’s data is open under CC BY-SA 4.0 — free to reuse and adapt, with attribution and the same licence. Photos keep their own per-image licence + credit (see Sources above).

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