RHEUM. 



white taste, and was equal in its effects to the best sorts." Pereira. It 

 is said to have been the produce of this plant. 



737. R. rhaponticum Linn. sp. pi. 531. Ait. Kew. ii. 41. 

 Willd. sp. pi. ii. 488. — Rhaponticum Alp. rhapont. i. t. 1. — 

 Thrace Linn. ; borders of the Euxine sea ; more abundantly- 

 north of the Caspian, in the deserts between the Volga and the 

 Yaik ; also Siberia on the mountains of Krasnojar. Ouibourt. 



Leaves roundish-ovate, cordate, obtuse, pale green, but little wavy, 

 very concave, even, very slightly downy on the under side, especially 

 near the edge, and on the edge itself; scabrous at the margin ; sinus 

 quite open, large and cuneate. Petiole depressed, channelled on the 

 upper side, with the edges regularly rounded off, pale green, striated, 

 scarcely scabrous. Panicles very compact and short, always rounded 

 at the ends, and never lax as in the other common garden species. 

 Flowering stem about 3 feet high. — According to Guibourt the root 

 of this is bitter, astringent, and aromatic ; when chewed mucilaginous 

 and not at all gritty ; the smell like that of rhubarb, but more dis- 

 agreeable. It is cultivated in large quantities at a place called 

 Rheumpole, near Lorient in the department of Morbihan. The pre- 

 pared root is said to be extremely like Rhubarb in appearance, and to 

 be what was analysed by M. Henry as French Rhubarb. {Bull, de 

 Pharmacie, vol. vi. p. 87.) 



738. R. undulatum Linn, sp.pl. 531. Amcen. acad. iii. 212. t. 4. 

 Willd. sp. pi. ii. 489. 8. and C. 1. 177. — R. rhabarbarum Linn, 

 syst. veg. 385. — China, Ammann ; Siberia, Guibourt. 



Leaves oval, obtuse, extremely wavy, deep green, with veins purple 

 at the base, often shorter than the petiole, distinctly and copiously 

 downy on each side, looking as if frosted when young, scabrous at the 

 edge ; sinus open, wedge-shaped, with the lower lobes of the leaves 

 turned upwards. Petiole downy, blood red, semicylindrical, with 

 elevated edges to the upper side, which is narrower at the upper than 

 the lower end. — A Tartarian merchant, a dealer in rhubarb, gave what 

 were, or what were said to be, seeds of the genuine Rhubarb plant to 

 Kauw Boerhaave, first physician to the Emperor of Russia, about the 

 year 1750, and those seeds produced both R. undulatum and palmatum, 

 Georgi further states that a Cossack pointed out to him the leaves of the 

 former as the true species. Hence it was once regarded as the real 

 officinal plant, and cultivated as such by the Russian Government ; but 

 the culture is discontinued, and Guibourt states that he never could 

 make" real Rhubarb from it. It is cultivated in France, and forms a 

 part of the French Rhubarb. Stevenson and Churchill say that what is 

 sold in the herb shops under the name of English Rhubarb is this; but 

 I have great doubt of the accuracy of this latter assertion ; for the 

 species is but little known in this country. R. rhaponticum, hybri- 

 dum, compactum, and hybrid varieties of them are the common garden 

 Rhubarbs. 



739. R. caspicum Fischer. — R. rhaponticum Ledebour jl. 

 altaic. ii. 91. ? — Caspian ? ; (stony places on the lower of the 

 Altaic mountains, never in the plains Ledebour. ?) 



Leaves ovate, acuminate, obtuse, cordate and inflexed at the base ; 

 357 A a 3 



