RHUBARB. 



309 



it was the root, was not ascertained until 1758, 

 when it was first introduced and cultivated in 

 this country by Dr John Hope. It is a native 

 of some parts of Tartary, where the physical 

 characters of the climate are well adapted for 

 the perfecting of its root, the properties of which 

 are very faintly retained in countries where the 

 season of dormant vegetation is humid. This 

 plant is of very handsome appearance. Its beau- 

 tiful palmate leaves distinguish it from the other 

 species ; but as the parts used for culinary pur- 

 poses, the footstalks of the radical leaves, are 

 much smaller than those of the other kinds, it is 

 not in general cultivation. 



MonJc Rhubarb, (rheum rJiaponticum,) is also 

 a native of Asia, but of what particular part is 

 not known, neither is the time of its introduction 

 ascertained; we find it mentioned by Tusser so 

 early as 1573, as being then cultivated in England. 



The leaves of this species are blunt and smooth, 

 with red veins; the footstalks have also a red 

 tinge, they have a groove or furrow on their upper 

 sides, and are rounded at the edges. 



The Hybrid Rhubarb, (rheum hybridum,) is 

 a native of more northern parts of Asia than the 

 others, and is of more recent introduction into 

 Britain. It was first cultivated in this country 

 by Dr Fothergill in 1778, but it did not come 

 into general use as a culinary vegetable till sev- 

 eral years after, having been introduced in our 

 kitchen-gardens for this purpose about thirty 

 years back. This plant is of a much more lively 

 green than the former species. The leaves are 

 slightly heart-shaped and very large, being, in 

 favourable soils and under good culture, some- 

 times as much as four feet in length, including 

 the footstalk. In the Gardener's Magazine for 

 February, 1829, we find a notice of a plant of 

 this species, the leaves of which attained to great 

 dimensions. One leaf being cut, with its petiole, 

 was found to weigh four pounds. The circumfer- 

 ence of the leaf, not including its foot-stalk, mea- 

 sured twenty-one feet three inches; its diameter, 

 three feet ten inches; length of leaf, including 

 the petiole, five feet two inches, and length of 

 petiole, one foot four inches. The stalks of the 

 hybrid are much more succulent, as well as 

 larger, than those of the monk rhubarb, which, 

 therefore, cause it to be the preferable species for 

 cultivation, although rheum undulatum, called 

 by gardeners Buck's Rh., and the Elford Rh., 

 has been found the finest in flavour. 



Rhubarb is very easily cultivated, and though 

 it occupies much space, the produce, under pro- 

 per treatment, is very considerable. The petioles 

 obtained from it will furnish a greater supply of 

 material for tarts than the fruit of either apple 

 or gooseberry-trees occupying an equal breadth 

 of ground. It may, therefore, be considered as 

 a good plant for the cottage garden, more es- 

 pecially as it comes into productive bearing in 



the earliest spring, a time when fresh fruit can- 

 not be obtained. 



New plantations may be raised either by sow- 

 ing the seeds or parting the roots. The latter is 

 not, however, an eligible mode of culture. As 

 in most cultivated plants, the produce of a sucker 

 is, when it has to make its own root, always in- 

 ferior in vegetative power to that which is ori- 

 ginally fi-om the seed, and vigorous vegetation 

 is the quality most sought for in rhubarb; the 

 flowering stems should be removed, except in 

 such plants as may be wanted for seed. If the 

 seeds are sown in spring, the plants will be ready 

 for planting out in autumn, and will come up 

 strong enough for use the next spring, after which 

 the plantation will last for many years. The 

 plants of the hybrid kind require from two feet 

 and a half to three feet of space for each, and 

 those of the other species about a foot less; but 

 the superior produce of the former, under fa- 

 vourable circumstances, will more than compen- 

 sate for the greater breadth required. 



Angelica, (angelica archangelica,) is occa- 

 sionally to be found native in cold and moist 

 places of Scotland; but it is more abundant in 

 countries farther to the north, as in Lapland and 

 Iceland. This plant was formerly much more 

 in repute than it is at present. It may be in- 

 ferred from its common name of angelica, as 

 well as from another name, "The Holy Ghost," 

 which was sometimes given to it, that supersti- 

 tious virtues were imputed to it. The chief of 

 these virtues was driving away the pestilence, 

 for which general cleanliness has proved to be a 

 better preventive than all the charms which ever 

 were named. 



Its stem was formerly blanched and eaten like 

 celery, but the use of this plant in the present 

 day as an English edible is mostly confined to 

 confectionary, for which purpose the young and 

 tender stalks are candied. The roots, seeds, and 

 leaves, are sometimes, though not very com- 

 monly in modern practice, used in medical pre- 

 parations. The whole plant is highly aromatic. 

 In Lapland the inhabitants consider the stalks 

 of angelica as a great delicacy. These are 

 gathered before flowering; the leaves being strip- 

 ped off^ and the peel removed, the remainder is 

 eaten with much relish. This is a favourite 

 plant with the Laplanders, who have given so 

 many names to it, according to the different 

 stages of its growth, as to occasion much con- 

 fusion to a stranger. 



SoRK^L, (rumex acetosa.J An indigenous 

 perennial plant, very common in meadows and 

 moist places. The root leaves have long foot- 

 stalks, are narrow shaped, blunt, and are marked 

 with two or three large teeth at the base : the 

 upper leaves are sessile and acute. There are 

 several varieties of this species; the broad-leaved 

 is the most succulent. 



