Gunnera × cryptica
| Gunnera × cryptica | |
|---|---|
| Gunnera growing at St Just in Roseland, Cornwall, England, so likely to be G. × cryptica | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Order: | Gunnerales |
| Family: | Gunneraceae |
| Genus: | Gunnera |
| Subgenus: | Gunnera subg. Panke |
| Species: | G. × cryptica |
| Binomial name | |
| Gunnera × cryptica J.M.H.Shaw | |
Gunnera × cryptica is a hybrid between Gunnera manicata and Gunnera tinctoria. Both species were introduced into cultivation in Western Europe towards the end of the 19th century. The hybrid occurred spontaneously in cultivation, in Europe probably around 1873. Both morphological and molecular analyses have shown that plants widely cultivated in Britain and Ireland under the name Gunnera manicata were all the hybrid, and that the true species G. manicata is no longer found there. This situation may also be the case in Europe and other parts of the world. The hybrid is more resistant to frost and adverse conditions than G. manicata, which is likely to be why it has replaced it in cultivation.