GROWTH  AND  PREPARATION  OF  RHUBARB  IN  CHINA.  159 
on  age  or  locality.    The  most  importent  feature  in  the  descrip- 
tion is  the  statement  of  Su-sung,  that  the  leaves  of  the  Shen-si 
rhubarb  plant  resemble  those  of  Ricinus  communis,  the  only- 
known  species  of  Rheum  whose  leaves  admit  of  this  comparison 
being  R.  palmatum.    Su-sung  particularizes  the  leaves  of  the 
Shen-si  rhubarb,  as  if  this  was  different  from  the  Sz-chuen  plant. 
Possibly  he  was  only  acquainted  with  the  Shen-si  plant,  and 
therefore  spoke  cautiously.     There  appears,  however,  to  be 
another  species  of  rhubarb,  which  Kung  calls  the  Yang-ti  plant. 
This  is  said  to  be  often  mistaken  for  the  ordinary  rhubarb  plant, 
on  account  of  its  resemblance  to  it;  but  Li-shi-chen  affirms  that 
it  is  a  distinct  species.    It  is,  probably,  also  a  species  of  Rheum, 
whose  root,  though  known  in  the  market  as  Yang-ti  rhubarb,  is 
smaller  and  of  inferior  quality,  and  therefore  not  called  rhubarb 
by  first-class  dealers.     Yang-ti  rhubarb  means  sheep's-feet 
rhubarb,  and  is  so  called  from  a  fancied  resemblance  to  the  feet 
of  the  sheep,  as  the  Sz-chuen  rhubarb  is  called,  doubtless  also 
from  its  shape  and  size,  hoof  or  horse-hoof  rhubarb.    The  Tu- 
ta-kwang  or  local,  i.  e.  inferior  rhubarb  mentioned  by  Su-sung, 
which  flowers  two  months  earlier  than  the  palmate-leaved  rhu- 
barb of  Shen-si,  may  be  a  third  species.    There  are  a  few  char- 
acters which  do  not  correspond  with  R.  palmatum,  or  indeed 
with  any  of  our  cultivated  species.    The  resemblance  of  the  root 
to  a  basin  is  far  from  obvious,  and  the  so-called  seed  or  nut  is 
usually  a  rust-brown  rather  than  black.    The  objection  to  R. 
palmatum  being  the  source,  or  a  source,  of  the  officinal  rhubarb 
has,  I  believe,  been  chiefly  founded  on  the  statement  of  Pallas, 
that  these  species  appeared  to  be  quite  unknown  to  the  Buchar- 
ians,  and  that  their  description  corresponded  most  nearly  with 
R.  compactum,  the  seeds  of  which  were  sent  to  Miller  from  St. 
Petersburg  as  the  true  Tartarian  rhubarb.    But  still  less  has 
hitherto  been  known  of  the  rhubarb  which  grows  in  China  itself ; 
and  I  think  I  have  now  shown  equally  good  reason  for  believing 
that  the  best  kind  ol  Chinese  rhubarb  — namely,  the  produce  of 
Shen-si,  and  probably  also  of  Sz-chuen — is  R.  palmatum,  which, 
notwithstanding  all  that  has  been  said  against  it,  has  always 
been  considered  to  approach  most  nearly  to  Asiatic  rhubarb. 
Kung,  who  does  not  mention  any  locality,  but  compares  the 
