00 I)r J. Ilutton Balfour 



on tliis rhubarb in liis " Himalayan Journal:" — "On the 

 black rocks tlie gigantic rhubarl) formed pale pyramidal 

 towers a yard high, of inflated reflexed })racts, tliat conceal 

 the flowers, and over-lapping one another like tiles, protect 

 them from the wind and rain ; a whorl of broad green 

 leaves edged with red spreads on the ground at the base 

 of the plant, contrasting in colour with the transparent 

 bracts, which are yellow, margined witli pink. This is the 

 handsomest herbaceous plant in Sikkim ; it is called 

 ' Tchuka,' and the acid stems are eaten both raw and 

 boiled; they are hollow and full of pure water: the root 

 resembles that of the medicinal rhubarb, but it is spongy 

 and inert ; it attains a length of 4 feet, and grows as 

 thick as the arm. The dried leaves afford a substitute for 

 tobacco ; a smaller kind of rhubarb is, however, more com- 

 monly used in Tibet for this purpose." 



Under Hooker's direction, Fitch has given a beautiful 

 sketch of the plant in all its parts. 



I may notice that the Rheum nohile grows in an elevated 

 part of the garden, protected on the west by a wall 16 feet 

 high, and on the other sides by abundance of trees and 

 shrubs. When there is a fall of snow, such as took place 

 during the past two winters, it continues long in that part 

 of the garden, and this may partly account for the flower- 

 ing of the Rheum. 



Mr Elwes, in " The Garden," remarks as follows : — " I 

 may say, as one of the very few Europeans who have ever 

 seen that most noble of Alpine plants, Rheum nohile, on its 

 native rocks, that it grows in a climate of excessive damp- 

 ness for six months in the year, rain or mist usually pre- 

 vailing for twenty hours out of the twenty-four. Strong 

 wind, however, in summer is hardly known, whilst in 

 winter the plants, growing at an elevation of from 13,000 

 to 14,000 feet, are buried in snow," 



Explanation of Plate I. 



Eig. 1. Plant of Rheum nohile (Hook, fil.) as grown in the Royal 

 Botanic Garden, Edinburgla (June 1880), showing radical leaves; 

 pale yellow bracts, which cover and protect the inflorescence. 



Fig. 2. a, Large dependent bract ; 6, large pink membranous 

 stipule ; c, branching panicle of flowers. 



