Perennial herb forming broad crowns of pale fur to several metres wide. Leaves 2-3 m wide, prickly, especially on the veins below, stalks prickly. Flower clusters brushlike, stiff, conical, with flexible side branches 15 cm or more long. Inflorescence more open than that of g. tinctoria.

G. tinctoria (Molina) Mirbel from Chile is also sometimes grown; it is very similar, but is generally a smaller plant with shorter, rigid side branches. Syn. G. chilensis Lam.

Both these species have escaped from cultivation in Tas.

Smaller plants occasionally cultivated include: G. cordifolia (J.D. Hook.) J.D. Hook. which is native to Tas; and, from New Zealand, G. dentata T. Kirk and G. hamiltonii Hamilt.

Brazil, Colombia.

Source: Spencer, R. (2002). Gunneraceae. In: Spencer, R.. Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Australia. Volume 3. Flowering plants. Dicotyledons. Part 2. The identification of garden and cultivated plants. University of New South Wales Press.