I often receive requests for plant ID's but this one is out of my league. I specialize in tropical species, primarily from Central and South America. This interesting photo arrived this morning with the following information: "I live in Vancouver, Canada...temps 75F summer as low as 30F in winter...not usually snowy (although this year has been a bit of an exception)...we're right on the Pacific Coast just north of Washington state. I think our temperature code is 8. This a local park but plant is plentiful in the area...if you have a big enough yard!...leaves die down in the winter and new leaves start again in spring from a mound at the base which gets slightly bigger every year. A seed pod develops and can be 1-2 feet long like this one. This plant in full summer will be about 8' across and 5 feet tall." Can any of you from that part of the world help this lady with an ID? Thanks!
Thanks guys. I just got this info from a scientific grower in Europe. Appears you all nailed it! "The plant is Gunnera manicata. Often grown outdoors in Europe because it's reasonably frost hardy, being from Chile. It needs full sun but a lot of moisture in the ground and is happy in boggy, swampy ground. Usually it's planted by lakes and ponds for that reason. It's leaves can be 5 feet across, and are as rough as sand paper, but they collapse and shrivel in the winter. For those of you in Florida, it would be very difficult to grow because it's too hot for it unfortunately. In Europe, it's often grown to create a "tropical" effect, along with other large leafed/fronded hardy exotics like Dicksonia tree ferns and phormiums etc." I also found on on TROPICOS it is found in Colombia and Brazil.
It often gets colder than 30F in Vancouver. Gunnera may be lost if crowns are not protected in winter, same as here, when the 1990 winter killed some long-established specimens.
I tried to grow it in sub tropical and I was unsuucessful. My parents, who live in Canberra, had much more success in their cold climate. I still like them though... Ed
I might buy some seeds from ebay, looks like such a cool plant. I have 2 questions, it grows those huge leafs in one season?, and would it survive in zone 6b (summer highs can be 85+*F with 100%humidity, winter lows can be as low as 5F (rare). Today probably was coldest of year here on Long Island, 12*F this morning, with gusty winds.
My guess is the humidity killed mine, as it is not humid at all in Canberra. Maybe one of the experienced growers can comment... Ed
I don'know the plant, but it is very humid in both Brazil and Colombia and TROPICOS indicates it is a native there. Chances are it grows up in the Andes where is is cooler.
12F is a 30-year low in some waterfront neighborhoods here. 5F would be likely to do it in, as in 1990 when single digits were seen over large areas - even near salt water. Hawaiian species grows natively in very wet area off the side of Haleakala crater - rain and mist no problem.
That picture looks familiar. Was it taken at the Queen Elizabeth Park? The gardeners at QE Park winter protect their Gunnera by covering them with evergreen boughs. My neighbour has one, unprotected - his does not get winter kill unless temperatures get below 10 degrees C for prolonged periods. I figure that one of these winters, he won't be so lucky. Mine you, it is enjoying a bit of a warmer micro-climate by being grown close t othe house. There are a couple of very large specimens in front of a house on Moscrop in Burnaby which appears to do well (near Inman). I should see if it is winter protected when I drive by tomorrow.
As can be seen in picture at beginning of thread the rootstock grows mostly above the ground, which can't help much with surviving Arctic conditions. An often-described method for assisting the plant through the winter is snapping the leaf stalks and bending the spent leaves over in fall to form a tent over the crown.
