Gunnera prorepens Hook.f.
Dioecious herb. Lvs 2.5-14 cm long; lamina ovate, shallowly cordate at base, not lobed, shallowly crenate to ± entire, membranous, usually ± glabrous. Infructescence exposed above lvs. Drupes usually densely clustered on stalk, sometimes more scattered, shortly obconic to globose, red-purple to red or yellow; flesh closely attached to seed.
N.; S.; St.: from Auckland southwards.
Endemic.
Coastal sites, and wet situations from lowland to subalpine.
G. prorepens is a distinctive sp., easily recognised by the thin, almost entire lvs, and the usually dense, raspberry-like fruiting heads. It is dimorphic for fr. colour with both forms sometimes growing intermixed in one population. Allan (1961) treated the yellow-fruited morph at specific level as G. flavida Colenso.
