108 ENNEANDRIA. 



It was first introduced into England in 1734> 

 but it was not till many years afterwards unequi- 

 vocally known to be the medicinal Rhubarb as im- 

 ported from Russia and the East. This plant is an 

 example of remarkably quick vegetation 3 the stem of 

 it in three months, has been known to grow upwards 

 of eleven feet, and some of the leaves to five feet in 

 their longest extent. The root, which remains in tlie 

 ground during tlie winter, grows also to a very large 

 size 3 some have been produced in this country, ol 

 five years old, that have weighed more than seventy 

 pounds in their fresh state. 



From the best experiments that have been made 

 upon the British Rhubarb, it appears to be of the same 

 medicinal quality with that which is imported} but 

 not quite so active in its operation, which is supposed 

 to be owing to some want of skill or knowledge in 

 curing it. 



In the month of April the tender foot-stalks of 

 the Iccives of this plant are sometimes used in pastry 

 as a substitute for green gooseberries, but for this 

 purpose the Rheum undulalum, another species of 

 this genus, is preferred. 



ORDER 3. 



iiEXAGY- FLOWERING RUSH is the only British plant 



^^^' of the ninth class in the Linnaean System ; and^the only 



Six Pistilla. 



