Chilean Rhubarb

gunnera tinctoria

Chilean Rhubarb is a spectacular, giant herbaceous plant known for its dramatic, prehistoric appearance and colossal leaves. Despite its common name, it is completely unrelated to culinary rhubarb, instead belonging to the ancient Gunneraceae family. Native to the damp rainforests and coastal regions of southern Chile and Argentina, this architectural marvel is highly prized in dramatic landscaping but has also gained notoriety as a highly aggressive invasive species in wet temperate zones like Ireland, Great Britain, and New Zealand. It dominates damp habitats by casting dense shade that suppresses native flora. Use the Snappit app to scan, identify, and learn about Chilean Rhubarb in real-time.

Habitat: Thrives in damp, coastal areas, stream banks, wet grasslands, and boggy soils.

Appearance

This massive plant is easily identified by its giant, umbrella-like leaves that can grow up to 2.5 meters across. The leaves are circular, palmately lobed, and incredibly rough to the touch, with a sandpaper-like texture. Thick, fleshy leaf stalks (petioles) are covered in reddish, prickle-like spikes. From the center of the plant, stout, cone-shaped flowering spikes up to 1 meter tall emerge, packed with thousands of tiny, inconspicuous reddish-green flowers that eventually produce small, fleshy orange-red berries.

KingdomPlantaePhylumTracheophytaClassMagnoliopsidaOrderGunneralesFamilyGunneraceaeGenusGunnera

Chilean Rhubarb

Interesting facts

A single mature Chilean Rhubarb plant can produce up to 250,000 seeds in a single year, which are easily spread by water and birds.

The Mapuche people of South America traditionally used the roots of the Chilean Rhubarb to extract a strong black dye for coloring wool textiles.

The acidic leaf stalks are technically edible and are consumed raw with salt or sugar in traditional Chilean cuisine, despite their astringency.

Special abilities

Hosts symbiotic cyanobacteria of the genus Nostoc within specialized glands on its stems, allowing it to extract nitrogen directly from the air and thrive in nutrient-poor soils.

Grows gargantuan leaves rapidly in the spring, blocking up to ninety-nine percent of light from reaching the ground to suppress competing vegetation.

Can regenerate entirely from small fragments of its thick, underground rhizomes, making it highly resilient to physical clearing.

Measurements & details

Length: 150-300 cm
Weight: 10-150 kg
Lifespan: 10-50 years

Diet & Feeding

As a photoautotroph, it synthesizes its own organic compounds using sunlight, carbon dioxide, and water, heavily supplemented by nitrogen provided by symbiotic cyanobacteria.

Primary Foods

Sunlight
Water
Carbon Dioxide
Atmospheric Nitrogen

Ecological connections

competitor

Common Bracken

Pteridium aquilinum

Provides shelter and maintains moisture in damp environments, but its dense canopy heavily outcompetes native ferns.

mutualism

Nostoc Cyanobacteria

Nostoc punctiforme

Houses the nitrogen-fixing cyanobacteria inside its stem tissues in a vital mutualistic relationship.

eaten by

Domestic Sheep

Ovis aries

Introduced sheep occasionally graze on the young, less prickly leaves of the plant in coastal pastures.

Traits

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Also known as

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Safety

Danger

1/5 · Very low

No special safety notes yet.

Frequently Asked Questions

How to identify Chilean Rhubarb?

The easiest way to identify Chilean Rhubarb is to use the Snappit nature identifier app.

How long is Chilean Rhubarb?

150-300 cm

How much does Chilean Rhubarb weigh?

10-150 kg

How long does Chilean Rhubarb live?

10-50 years

What does Chilean Rhubarb eat?

As a photoautotroph, it synthesizes its own organic compounds using sunlight, carbon dioxide, and water, heavily supplemented by nitrogen provided by symbiotic cyanobacteria.

Where is Chilean Rhubarb usually found?

Thrives in damp, coastal areas, stream banks, wet grasslands, and boggy soils.