Flora Medica

RHEUM.white taste, and was equal in its effects to the best sorts." Pereira. Itis said to have been the produce of this plant.737. R. rhaponticum Linn. sp. pi 531. Ait. Kew. ii. 41.Willd* sp. pi.ii. 488. i. t.Rhaponticum Alp. rhapont. 1.Thrace Linn. ; borders of the Euxine sea ; more abundantlynorth of the Caspian, in the deserts between the Volga and theYaik ;also Siberia on the mountains of Krasnojar. Guibourt.Leaves roundish-ovate, cordate, obtuse, pale green, but little wavy,very concave, even, very slightly downy on the under side, especiallynear the edge, and on the edge itself; scabrous at the margin ;sinusquite open, large and cuneate. Petiole depressed, channelled on theupper side, with the edges regularly rounded off, pale green, striated,scarcely scabrous. Panicles verv compact and short, always roundedat the ends, and never lax as in the other common garden species.Flowering stem about 3 feet high. According to Guibourt the rootof this is bitter, astringent, and aromatic; when chewed mucilaginousand not at all gritty ;the smell like that of rhubarb, but more disagreeable.It is 'cultivated in large quantities at a place calledRheumpole, near Lorient in the department of Morbihan. The preparedroot is said to be extremely like Rhubarb in appearance, and tobe what was analysed by M. Henry as French Rhubarb. (Bull, dePharmacie, vol. vi. p. 87.)738. R. undulatum Linn, sp.pl. 531. Amom. acad. iii. 212. t. 4.Willd. sp. pi.ii. 489. S. and C. 1. 177. R. rhabarbarum Linn,syst. veg. 385. China, Ammann ; Siberia, Guibourt.Leaves oval, obtuse, extremely wavy, deep green, with veins purpleat the base, often shorter than the petiole, distinctly and copiouslydowny on each side, looking as if frosted when young, scabrous at theedge sinus open, wedge-shaped, with the lower lobes of the leaves;turned upwards. Petiole downy, blood red, semicylindrical, withelevated edges to the upper side, which is narrower at the upper thanthe lower end. A Tartarian merchant, a dealer in rhubarb, gave whatwere, or what were said to be, seeds of the genuine Rhubarb plant toKauw Boerhaave, first physician to the Emperor of Russia, about theyear 1750, and those seeds produced both R. undulatum and palmatum.Georgi further states that a Cossack pointed out to him the leaves of theformer as the true species. Hence it was once regarded as the realofficinal plant, and cultivated as such by the Russian Government ;butthe culture is discontinued, and Guibourt states that he never couldmake' real Rhubarb from it. It is cultivated in France, and forms apart of the French Rhubarb. Stevenson and Churchill say that what issold in the herb shops under the name of English Rhubarb is this ;butI have great doubt of the accuracy of this latter assertion ; for thespecies is but little known in this country. R. rhaponticum, hybridum,compactum, and hybrid varieties of them are the common gardenRhubarbs.739. R. caspicum Fischer R. rhaponticum Ledebour fi.altaic. ii. 91. ? Caspian ? ;(stony places on the lower of theAltaic mountains, never in the plainsLedebour. ?)Leaves ovate, acuminate, obtuse, cordate and inflexed at the base ;357 A A 3