Gunnera

A truly monstrous Jurassic looking plant, Chilean Gunnera, known as nalca in Chile, is also a wonderful edible plant! One hot afternoon hitchhiking from a remote area in Los Lagos to Osorno our drive pulled over in front of a giant Chilean Gunnera, cut a young stalk off, stripped the slightly spiky skin off with the blade of his knife, sprinkled some salt on the fleshy green stem and offered it to us. Delicious! Sometimes called dinosaur food due to its massive textured leaves that can reach up to 6′ across, it is the preferred food source of the Underground Spirtual Alligator.