Poorman's Umbrella

Appearance

G. insignis is a herbaceous plant in which the stem can grow up to 30 cm tall. The petioles can be up to 2.5 m long and can sometimes be red. The leaves can grow up to 2 m wide and grow in a rosette arrangement. These large umbrella-like leaves are toothed, palmately lobed, with 5 main veins dividing the leaf.

The veins are occasionally red. The plant produces a conical red inflorescence that can grow 1 m long (Gargiullo 2008; Zuchowski 2007). The flowers are hermaphroditic, but can occasionally be unisexual. They do not have bracts or petals (Ronse de Craene and Wanntorp 2006). These produce many small (0.2 cm long) red or orange single-seeded fruits (Gargiullo 2008; Zuchowski 2007). The plant is wind pollinated.