rhubarb
Sign in to saveRhubarb is the fleshy, edible stalks (petioles) of species and hybrids (culinary rhubarb) of Rheum in the family Polygonaceae, which are cooked and used for food. The plant is a herbaceous perennial that grows from short, thick rhizomes. Historically, different plants have been called "rhubarb" in English. The large, triangular leaves contain high levels of oxalic acid and anthrone glycosides, making them poisonous and therefore inedible. The small flowers are grouped in large compound leafy greenish-white to rose-red inflorescences.
AI overview
Rhubarb is a plant whose fleshy stalks are harvested and cooked for use in food, while its large leaves are poisonous and must be avoided. The plant grows as a perennial from thick underground rhizomes and produces small flowers grouped in large, leafy clusters that range from greenish-white to rose-red in color.
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Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- taxon
- Subclass of
- Polygonaceae
- Parent taxon
- Rheum
- Image
- Rabarber stelen.jpg
Show 6 more facts
- P105
- species
- P910
- Category:Rhubarb
- P4000
- nucule
- P366
- vegetable
Article
16 sectionsContents
- Etymology
- Cultivation
- Historical cultivation
- Cultivars
- Uses
- Food
- Nutrition
- Traditional Chinese medicine
- Phytochemistry and potential toxicity
- Oxalic acid
- Pests
- Cookbook
- Gallery
- References
- Further reading
- External links
Rhubarb is the fleshy, edible stalks (petioles) of species and hybrids (culinary rhubarb) of Rheum in the family Polygonaceae, which are cooked and used for food. The plant is a herbaceous perennial that grows from short, thick rhizomes. Historically, different plants have been called "rhubarb" in English. The large, triangular leaves contain high levels of oxalic acid and anthrone glycosides, making them poisonous and therefore inedible. The small flowers are grouped in large compound leafy greenish-white to rose-red inflorescences.
The precise origin of culinary rhubarb is unknown. The species Rheum rhabarbarum (syn. R. undulatum) and R. rhaponticum were grown in Europe before the 18th century and used for medicinal purposes. By the early 18th century, these two species and a possible hybrid of unknown origin, R. × hybridum, were grown as vegetable crops in England and Scandinavia. They readily hybridize, and culinary rhubarb was developed by selecting open-pollinated seed, so its precise origin is almost impossible to determine. In appearance, samples of culinary rhubarb vary on a continuum between R. rhaponticum and R. rhabarbarum. However, modern rhubarb cultivars are tetraploids with 2n = 44, in contrast to 2n = 22 for the wild species.