336 
ENNEANDRIA TRIGYNIA. 
Class IX. 
5664 palmatum W. 
5665 compactum W. 
5666 tataricum W. 
5667 R'lbes W. 
5668 hybridum W. 
officinal 
thick-leaved 
Tartarian 
warted-leaved 
bastard 
A m 
5 
ap.my 
W.G 
Bucharia 1763. 
R 
CO 
Lin. fasc. 7. t. 4 
A m 
3 
my.jn 
W.G 
Tartary 
Tartary 
1758. 
R 
CO 
Mill. ic. 2. t. 218 
A m 
3 
my.jn 
W.G 
1793. 
R 
CO 
A cul 
2 
my.jn 
W.G 
Levant 
1724. 
R 
CO 
An. mus. 2. t. 49 
A cul 
5 
my.jn 
W.G 
Asia 
1778. 
R 
CO 
Mur. CO. got. t. 1 
939. BU'TOMUS. W. 
5669 umbellatus IV. 
HEXAGYNIA. 
Flowe RING- Rush. Butomece. Sp. 1—2. 
umbelled ^ A el 2 jn.jl Pk Britain 
Eng. bot. 651 
5664 ll/ill Xl^** _ 5665 
History, Use, Propagation, Culture, 
Ammianus Marcellinus, lib. xii., says, " the Jtha is a river, on the border of which grows a root, which bears 
its name, and is much renowned in medicine." The construction of the specific names confirms this ; Rha 
ponticum, Rha barbarum, whence the name Rhubarb was obtained. 
R. Rhaponticum was thought to be the true rhubarb of druggists, till Dr. Hope of Edinburgh described the 
R. palmatum, some seeds of which he had received from Russia, as of the genuine species. It is not, however, 
finally settled, whether these species or the R. compactum yield the foreign roots, nor does it appear of much 
consequence, as these three species agree so nearly in their medical properties, that any of them may be used 
with equal certainty of success. All the rhubarb of commerce, known under the names Turkey or Russian, and 
East Indian or Chinese, grows on the declivities of the chain of mountains in Tartary which stretches from 
the Chinese town Sini to the lake Kokonor near Thibet. The soil is light and sandy ; and the Bucharians 
assert that the best grows in the shade on the southern side of the mountains. Rhubarb, however, is also 
cultivated in China, in the province of Chen-See, where it is called Hai-houng. In Tartary, the roots are taken 
up twice a-year, in spring and in autumn, and after being cleansed and decorticated, and the smaller branches 
cut off, the body of the root is divided transversely into pieces of a moderate size, which are placed on tables, 
and turned three or four times a-day, during five or six days. A hole is then bored through each piece, by 
which it is hung up to dry, exposed to the air and wind, but sheltered from the sun. In about two months,, 
the roots have lost seven parts in eight of their weight, and are fit for the market. In China, the roots are not 
dug up till winter ; and the cultivators, after cleaning, scraping off the bark, and cutting them, dry the slices 
by frequently turning them on stone slabs heated by a fire underneath ; after which, the drying is completed by 
hanging them up in the air exposed to the greatest heat of the sun. {Thomson's London Dispensatory, 471.) 
Rhubarb has been cultivated in different parts of Britain with a view to drying the root for medical pur- 
poses with the most perfect success ; but such is the prejudice in favor of the foreign article, that sufficient de- 
