Flora of New Zealand Series

Dioecious herb. Lvs 1-4-(6) cm long; lamina usually ovate to elliptic, sometimes orbicular or obovate, usually obtuse at base, sometimes truncate, not lobed, coarsely and often irregularly crenate or serrate, subcoriaceous, glabrous to sparsely or moderately hairy. Infructescence usually exposed above lvs. Drupes spaced along stalk, long-pyriform, pale yellow to deep orange; flesh closely attached to seed.

N.; S.; St.

Endemic.

Coastal to low-alpine dune hollows and open wet ground.

This sp. can be distinguished from all other N.Z. Gunnera spp., except the rare G. hamiltonii, by the obtuse rather than cordate bases of most lvs. The long-pyriform frs, spaced along the infructescence, are also distinctive.

G. arenaria Cheeseman, accepted by Allan (1961) as a distinct coastal sp., cannot be distinguished by lf or fr. characters from forms found within inland populations of G. dentata, and is therefore placed in synonomy here.