Flora Medica

POLYGONACEJE.very wavy, deep green, of a thick texture, glossy and rather even on theupper side, scabrous at the edge, slightly downy on the under side, butquite smooth above ;sinus a little open the lobes of the leaves ; quiterolling inwards. Petiole pale green, with scarcely a tinge of red,minutely downy, semicylindrical, with elevated edges to the flat upperside, which is of equal breadth at each end. The plant described byDr. Ledebour in his Flora Altaica is certainly not R. rhaponticum, as isproved by the form of its petiole ; nor can I see how it differs fromR^caspicum of which there exists a plant from Dr. Fischer himself, inthe Apothecaries' Garden, Chelsea.740. R. compactum Linn. sp. pi. 531. Mill diet. t. 218.Willd. sp. pi ii. 4-89. Tartary, China. Linn.Leaves heart-shaped, obtuse, very wavy, deep green, of a thick texture,scabrous at the margin, quite smooth on both sides, glossy andeven on the upper side; sinus nearly closed by the parenchyma.Petiole green, hardly tinged with red except at the base, semicylindrical,a little compressed at the sides, with the upper side broad, flat, borderedby elevated edges, and of equal breadth at each end. Guibourt saysthat the root of this is a pretty good imitation of Chinese Rhubarb ;but when cleared of the yellow powder that covers it, there is nodifficulty in recognising it by its reddish or whitish red colour, its smellof " rhapontic " (in which respect it corresponds with undulatum), itsclose radiated marbling, its staining the saliva yellow only in a slightdegree, and in its not being gritty.74-1. R. palmatum Linn. sp. pi 531. Ait. Kew. ii. 41. Willd.sp. pi ii. 489. Wbodv. t. 46. S. and C. t. 25. Countryabout the great wall of China, Linn. ; a long chain ofmountains,partly naked of forests, which, skirting Chinese Tartary on thewest, commence to the North not far from the town of Selia,and extend to the South as far as Lake Kokonor, near Thibet,Murray.Leaves roundish-cordate, half palmate ;the lobes pinnatifid, acuminate,deep dull green, not wavy, but uneven and very much wrinkledon the upper side, hardly scabrous at the edge, minutely downy on theunder side ; sinus completely closed : the lobes of the leaf standingforwards beyond it. Petiole pale green, marked with short purplelines, terete, obscurely channelled quite at the upper end. Floweringstems taller than those of any other species.I have already mentionedunder R. undulatum how this has obtained the character of beingat least one of the sources of Tartarian Rhubarb. Pallas was howeverassured by the Bucharian Rhubarb merchants that they knew nothingof such leaves as those of this species, and that the leaves of genuineRhubarb were round and much cut at the edges. Pallas consideredthis account to agree best with R. compactum, whose leaves howeverare more wavy than cut. Nevertheless the opinion that R. palmatumis the source of the true officinal rhubarb continues to be generallyentertained. In the last edition of the London Pharmacopoeia this isasserted ;and M. Guibourt declares that of all the cultivated kindsR. palmatum alone resembles exactly, in its odour and smell, therhubarb of China. It is stated by Stevenson and Churchill that R. palmatumis extensively cultivated near Banbury for the supply of theLondon Market.358