m 
Of the Hiftorie of Plants. 
L 
I B. 2, 
wls firft of late difcouered by the learned Proffer Alpinusp ho writ a peculiar tract thtreof, andit 
is a ifo againe figured and deferibed injiis vvorke dc Plaints exoticis. Our Countryman M‘ lohn Par - 
ki»fon hath all'o let forth very well both the figure and defeription hereofiin his Paradtjtts teneftris. 
This plant hath many large toots diuerfly fpreading in the ground, ol a yellow colour, from which 
grow vp many very great leaues like thofe of the Butter-burre, but of a frefh greene colour , with 
S re at and manifeft veines difperfed oner them. The ftalke alio is large and eve fled, lending forth 
f un dry branches bearing many ftnall white floures, vyhich are fucceeded by feeds three fquare and 
brownifhdike as thofe of other Docks.D'.it/er one of his Maiefties Phyfinons was the firft that 
enricht this kingdome with this elegant and vfefull plant, by fending the feeders thereof to M 1 . 
Parkinfon Proffer Alfir ns .proucs this to be the true Rha of the Ancients, deferibed by Dio/toridcs, j 
Lib 3 cap •> yet neither he nor any other (that I knowof)haue obferued a fault, which I more than 
probably Fufpeft to bee in the text of Diofcorides in that place, which is in the word p’C*, which I 
fudge fboLild be that is, yellow, and not blacke, as Ruellim and others hatte tranflated it : now 
i s a word frequently vied by Diofcorides, as may appeare by the Chapters of Hieraaum magnmn 
/r parvum Comra,Pet teedamm, Ranunculus, and diuers others, and I fufpe<ft the like fault may bee 
found in fome other places of the fame Authour. But I will no further infill vpon this, feeing the 
thin^ it felfe in all other refpc£ts,as alfo in yellowneffe lliewes it felfe to be that deferibed by Di- 
ofcortdts and that my conic £turc muft therefore be true. And befides,the root wherto he compares 
it is that is Rubcfcnspt rather cx flauo rubefeens, as any vevfed in reading Diofcorides may ea- 
fily gather by diuers places in him. Now I here ouit his words, becaufe they are in the nextd'e- . 
feription alledged by our Authour, as alfo the delcription of our ordinarily vfed Rubarb, for that . 
it is fufficiently deferibed vnder the following title of the choife thereof. M r . Parkin fan is of opi- 
nion that this is the true Rubarbe vfed in lhops,onely leflc heatiy, bitter, and ftrong in working, by 
reafon ofthe diuerfity of our climat fiom that whereas the dried Rubarb brought vs viually grows. I 
This his opinion is very probable , and if you compare the roots together, you may enfily bee in- 
duced to be ofthe fame beleefe. $ . 
t 4 The Ponticke Rubarbe is Iefferandflendererthanthatof-Barbarie.TouchingPontick 
Rubarbe Diofcorides writeth thus : Rha that diuers call Rheon, which groweth in thofe places that 
are beyond Bofphorus,from whence it is brought, hath yellow roots like to the great Centorie,but 
leffer and redder, that is to fay, without fmell fDodonatts thinkes it fhould bee that is, 
well fmelling) fpongie,and fomething light. That is the beft which is not worme r eaten,and tailed 
is fomewhat vifeide with a light aftri£tion, and chewed becomes of a yellowor Saffron colour, f 
The Place. 
It is brought out of the Countrey of Sina (commonly called China) which is toward the Eaft 
in the vpper part of India, and that India which is without the riuer Ganges: and not at all Ex t 
Sccnitarnmpronincia^dLS many do vnadnifedly thinke)which is in Arabia the Happie,and far from 
China fit erroweth on the Tides ofthe riuerRha now called Volga, as Amtanus Marcellas laith, which 
riuer fpringeth out ofthe Hyperborean mountaines, and running through Mufcouia, fallcth into 
theCafpianor Hircanfca. 
4 The Rha ofthe Antients graves naturally, as Mpmm faith, vpon the hill Rhodope in 1 brace, 
now called Romania. It graves alfo as I haue been informed vpon fome mountaines in Hunga- 
rie.lt is alfo to be found growing in fome of our choice gardens, t 
T he choice of Rubarbe. 
The beft Rubarbe is that which is brought from China frefh and new, of a light purplifh red, 
with certaine veines and branches, of an vneertaine varietie of colour, commonly whitifh : but 
when it is old the colour becommeth ill fattored by turning yellowifh or pale, but morefif it bee 
worme eaten: being chewed in the mouth it is fomewhat gluie and clammie, and of a fatfron co- 
lour which being rubbed vpon paper or lome white thing fheweth the colour more plainely : the 
fubftance thereof is neither hard or clofely compacted, nor yet heauy ; but fomething light, and as 
it were in a middle betweene hard and loofeand fomething fpungie: it hath alfo a pleafmg fmell. 
The fecond in goodneffe is that which commeth from Barbarie. The laft and worft from Bofpho- 
rus and Pontus. 
qj The Names . 
It is commonly called in Latine Rha Rarbar tempt Rha Barbaricum. oi diuers, R/ictt Barbarttm the 
Moores and Arabians doe more tritely name it Ratted Sent, a Sinenfi fronincia ; from whence it is 
brought into Perfiaand Arabia, and afterwards into Europe : and likewife from Tanguth, through 
the land of Cataia into the land of the Pcrfians, whereof the Sophie is the ruler, and from thence 
into /Egypt, and afterwards into Europe.lt is called of the Arabians and the people of China, and 
the partsadiacent, R.tttend Cmi^tauedSem, and Ratted Scent: in fhops ,Rhabarbarum ■ inEnglifh, Ru- 
barb, and Rewbarbe. 
