Description

Rhubarb, also called sweet round-leaved dock or pieplant, is usually thought of as a fruit, but it is actually one of the few perennial vegetables in existence. Ordinary garden rhubarb carries the botanical name of Rheum rhaponticum, though there are other members of this botanical group that are also used for medicinal purposes. Chinese rhubarb, which is called da huang in traditional Chinese medicine, has the botanical name Rheum palmatum. Chinese rhubarb has a much stronger taste and properties than the common American variety. Rhubarb is a member of the same family as buckwheat, the Polygonaceae family. It originally came from Mongolia in northern Asia, but was long ago introduced to both India and Turkey. It was formerly called India or Turkey rhubarb.

In the 1760s, in England, an Oxfordshire pharmacist named Hayward began developing and growing the type of rhubarb most commonly grown...