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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 whole plant – a herbaceous perennial growing from short, thick rhizomes – is also called rhubarb. Historically, different plants have been called "rhubarb" in English. The large, triangular leaves contain high levels of oxalic acid and anthrone
glycoside In chemistry, a glycoside is a molecule in which a sugar is bound to another functional group via a glycosidic bond. Glycosides play numerous important roles in living organisms. Many plants store chemicals in the form of inactive glycoside ...
s, making them inedible. The small
flower A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism ...
s are grouped in large compound leafy greenish-white to rose-red
inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed ...
s. 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 2''n'' = 44, in contrast to 2''n'' = 22 for the wild species. Although rhubarb is a vegetable, it is often put to the same culinary uses as fruits. The leaf stalks can be used raw, when they have a crisp texture (similar to celery, although it is in a different family), but are most commonly cooked with sugar and used in pies,
crumble A crumble is a dish that can be made in a sweet or savoury version. Crumbles became popular in Britain during World War II, when the topping was an economical alternative to pies due to shortages of pastry ingredients as Rationing in the Unite ...
s and other desserts. They have a strong, tart taste. Many
cultivar A cultivar is a type of cultivated plant that people have selected for desired traits and when propagated retain those traits. Methods used to propagate cultivars include: division, root and stem cuttings, offsets, grafting, tissue culture ...
s have been developed for human consumption, most of which are recognised as ''Rheum'' × ''hybridum'' by the
Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr (No ...
.


Etymology

The word ''rhubarb'' is likely to have derived in the 14th century from the
Old French Old French (, , ; Modern French: ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France from approximately the 8th to the 14th centuries. Rather than a unified language, Old French was a linkage of Romance dialects, mutually intelligi ...
, which came from the Latin and
Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
, meaning 'foreign rhubarb'. The Greek physician Dioscorides used the Greek word (), whereas
Galen Aelius Galenus or Claudius Galenus ( el, Κλαύδιος Γαληνός; September 129 – c. AD 216), often Anglicized as Galen () or Galen of Pergamon, was a Greek physician, surgeon and philosopher in the Roman Empire. Considered to be on ...
later used (), Latin . These in turn derive from a Persian name for species of ''Rheum''. The specific epithet ''rhaponticum'', applying to one of the presumed parents of the cultivated plant, means 'rha from the region of the Black Sea' or the river
Volga The Volga (; russian: Во́лга, a=Ru-Волга.ogg, p=ˈvoɫɡə) is the longest river in Europe. Situated in Russia, it flows through Central Russia to Southern Russia and into the Caspian Sea. The Volga has a length of , and a catchm ...
, Rha being its ancient name.


Cultivation

Rhubarb is grown widely, and with
greenhouse A greenhouse (also called a glasshouse, or, if with sufficient heating, a hothouse) is a structure with walls and roof made chiefly of transparent material, such as glass, in which plants requiring regulated climatic conditions are grown.These ...
production it is available throughout much of the year. It needs rainfall and an annual cold period of up to 7-9 weeks at 3°C (37°F), known as ‘cold units’, to grow well. The plant develops a substantial underground storage organ (rhubarb crowns) and this can be used for early production by transferring field-grown crowns to warm conditions. Rhubarb grown in hothouses (heated greenhouses) is called "hothouse rhubarb", and is typically made available at consumer markets in early spring, before outdoor cultivated rhubarb is available. Hothouse rhubarb is usually brighter red, tenderer and sweeter-tasting than outdoor rhubarb.Rombauer, Irma S. (1975) ''Joy of Cooking''. Indianapolis/New York: Bobbs-Merrill Co., Inc. p. 142. After forcing for commercial production, the crowns are usually discarded. In
temperate climate In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (23.5° to 66.5° N/S of Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ranges throughout ...
s, rhubarb is one of the first food plants harvested, usually in mid- to late spring (April or May in the Northern Hemisphere, October or November in the Southern Hemisphere), and the season for field-grown plants lasts until the end of summer. In the United Kingdom, the first rhubarb of the year is harvested by candlelight in forcing sheds where all other light is excluded, a practice that produces a sweeter, more tender stalk.McGee, Harold (2004). '' On Food and Cooking''. New York, NY: Scribner. p 367. These sheds are dotted around the " Rhubarb Triangle" between
Wakefield Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 99,251 in the 2011 census.https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/census/2011/ks101ew Census 2011 table KS101EW Usual resident population ...
,
Leeds Leeds () is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the thi ...
, and Morley. In the United states rhubarb is primarily produced in the states of Oregon, Washington, and Wisconsin with approximately 1,200 acres in production of which 175 are covered in hothouses. In the northwestern US states of Oregon and Washington, there are typically two harvests, from late April to May and from late June into July; half of all US commercial production is in Pierce County, Washington. Rhubarb is ready to consume as soon as harvested, and freshly cut stalks are firm and glossy. Rhubarb damaged by severe cold should not be eaten, as it may be high in oxalic acid, which migrates from the leaves and can cause illness. The colour of rhubarb stalks can vary from the commonly associated crimson red, through speckled light
pink Pink is the color of a namesake flower that is a pale tint of red. It was first used as a color name in the late 17th century. According to surveys in Europe and the United States, pink is the color most often associated with charm, politeness, ...
, to simply light green. Rhubarb stalks are poetically described as "crimson stalks". The colour results from the presence of
anthocyanin Anthocyanins (), also called anthocyans, are water-soluble vacuolar pigments that, depending on their pH, may appear red, purple, blue, or black. In 1835, the German pharmacist Ludwig Clamor Marquart gave the name Anthokyan to a chemical co ...
s, and varies according to both rhubarb variety and production technique. The colour is not related to its suitability for cooking.


Historical cultivation

The Chinese call rhubarb "the great yellow" ( ), and have used rhubarb root for medicinal purposes. It appears in '' The Divine Farmer's Herb-Root Classic'', which is thought to have been compiled about 1,800 years ago. Though Dioscurides' description of or indicates that a medicinal root brought to Greece from beyond the
Bosphorus The Bosporus Strait (; grc, Βόσπορος ; tr, İstanbul Boğazı 'Istanbul strait', colloquially ''Boğaz'') or Bosphorus Strait is a natural strait and an internationally significant waterway located in Istanbul in northwestern Tu ...
may have been rhubarb, commerce in the plant did not become securely established until Islamic times. During Islamic times, it was imported along the Silk Road, reaching Europe in the 14th century through the ports of Aleppo and
Smyrna Smyrna ( ; grc, Σμύρνη, Smýrnē, or , ) was a Greek city located at a strategic point on the Aegean coast of Anatolia. Due to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence, and its good inland connections, Smyrna rose to promi ...
, where it became known as "Turkish rhubarb". Later, it also started arriving via the new maritime routes, or overland through Russia. The "Russian rhubarb" was the most valued, probably because of the rhubarb-specific quality control system maintained by the Russian Empire. The cost of transportation across Asia made rhubarb expensive in medieval Europe. It was several times the price of other valuable herbs and spices such as
cinnamon Cinnamon is a spice obtained from the inner bark of several tree species from the genus '' Cinnamomum''. Cinnamon is used mainly as an aromatic condiment and flavouring additive in a wide variety of cuisines, sweet and savoury dishes, brea ...
,
opium Opium (or poppy tears, scientific name: ''Lachryma papaveris'') is dried latex obtained from the seed capsules of the opium poppy '' Papaver somniferum''. Approximately 12 percent of opium is made up of the analgesic alkaloid morphine, which ...
, and
saffron Saffron () is a spice derived from the flower of ''Crocus sativus'', commonly known as the "saffron crocus". The vivid crimson stigma (botany), stigma and stigma (botany)#style, styles, called threads, are collected and dried for use mainly ...
. The merchant explorer Marco Polo therefore searched for the place where the plant was grown and harvested, discovering that it was cultivated in the mountains of Tangut province. The value of rhubarb can be seen in Ruy Gonzáles de Clavijo's report of his embassy in 1403–1405 to
Timur Timur ; chg, ''Aqsaq Temür'', 'Timur the Lame') or as ''Sahib-i-Qiran'' ( 'Lord of the Auspicious Conjunction'), his epithet. ( chg, ''Temür'', 'Iron'; 9 April 133617–19 February 1405), later Timūr Gurkānī ( chg, ''Temür Kür ...
in
Samarkand fa, سمرقند , native_name_lang = , settlement_type = City , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from the top: Registan square, Shah-i-Zinda necropolis, Bibi-Khanym Mosque, view inside Shah-i-Zi ...
: "The best of all merchandise coming to Samarkand was from China: especially silks, satins, musk, rubies,
diamond Diamond is a solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the chemically stable form of carbon at room temperature and pressure, ...
s,
pearl A pearl is a hard, glistening object produced within the soft tissue (specifically the mantle) of a living shelled mollusk or another animal, such as fossil conulariids. Just like the shell of a mollusk, a pearl is composed of calcium ca ...
s, and rhubarb...." The high price, as well as the increasing demand from apothecaries, stimulated efforts to cultivate the different species of rhubarb on European soil. Certain species came to be grown in England to produce the roots.A Modern Herbal , Rhubarbs
Botanical.com. Retrieved on 17 August 2019.
The local availability of the plants grown for medicinal purposes, together with the increasing abundance and decreasing price of sugar in the 18th century, galvanised its culinary adoption. Grieve claims a date of 1820 in England. Rhubarb was harvested in
Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to th ...
from at least 1786, having been introduced to the Botanical Garden in
Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
by the traveller
Bruce of Kinnaird James Bruce of Kinnaird (14 December 1730 – 27 April 1794) was a Scottish traveller and travel writer who confirmed the source of the Blue Nile. He spent more than a dozen years in North Africa and Ethiopia and in 1770 became the first Europ ...
in 1774. He brought the seeds from Abyssinia and they produced 3000 plants. Though it is often asserted that rhubarb first came to the United States in the 1820s, John Bartram was growing medicinal and culinary rhubarbs in
Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
from the 1730s, planting seeds sent to him by Peter Collinson. From the first, the familiar garden rhubarb was not the only ''Rheum'' in American gardens:
Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was previously the nati ...
planted '' R. undulatum'' at Monticello in 1809 and 1811, observing that it was "Esculent rhubarb, the leaves excellent as Spinach."


Cultivars

The advocate of organic gardening
Lawrence D. Hills Lawrence Donegan Hills (2 July 1911 – 20 September 1990) was a British horticulturalist and writer. In 1954, he founded the Henry Doubleday Research Association (HDRA; now Garden Organic) in Bocking, near Braintree, Essex. By the time he retir ...
listed his favourite rhubarb varieties for flavour as 'Hawke's Champagne', 'Victoria', 'Timperley Early', and 'Early Albert', also recommending 'Gaskin's Perpetual' for having the lowest level of oxalic acid, allowing it to be harvested over a much longer period of the growing season without developing excessive sourness. The Royal Horticultural Society has the UK's national collection of rhubarb that comprises 103 varieties. In 2021–2022 this was moved from southern England to the more northern garden RHS Bridgewater where winter cold and rainfall are better suited for rhubarb. The following cultivars have gained the
Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr (No ...
’s Award of Garden Merit: *’Grandad's Favourite’ *’Reed's Early Superb’ *’Stein's Champagne’ *’Timperley Early’


Uses

Rhubarb is grown primarily for its fleshy leafstalks, technically known as petioles. The use of rhubarb stalks as food is a relatively recent innovation. This usage was first recorded in 18th- to 19th-century England after affordable sugar became more widely available. Commonly, it is stewed with sugar or used in pies and desserts, but it can also be put into savoury dishes or pickled. Rhubarb can be dehydrated and infused with fruit juice. In the United States, it is usually infused with strawberry juice to mimic the popular
strawberry rhubarb pie Rhubarb pie is a pie with a rhubarb filling. It is popular in the UK, where rhubarb has been cultivated since the 1600s, and the leaf stalks eaten since the 1700s. Besides diced rhubarb, it almost always contains a large amount of sugar to ba ...
.


Food

The species '' Rheum ribes'' has been eaten in the
Islamic world The terms Muslim world and Islamic world commonly refer to the Islamic community, which is also known as the Ummah. This consists of all those who adhere to the religious beliefs and laws of Islam or to societies in which Islam is practiced. In ...
since the 10th century. In Northern Europe and North America, the stalks are commonly cut into pieces and stewed with added sugar until soft. The resulting compote, sometimes thickened with corn starch, can then be used in pies, tarts and crumbles. Alternatively, greater quantities of sugar can be added with
pectin Pectin ( grc, πηκτικός ': "congealed" and "curdled") is a heteropolysaccharide, a structural acid contained in the primary lamella, in the middle lamella, and in the cell walls of terrestrial plants. The principal, chemical component o ...
to make jams. A paired spice used is
ginger Ginger (''Zingiber officinale'') is a flowering plant whose rhizome, ginger root or ginger, is widely used as a spice and a folk medicine. It is a herbaceous perennial which grows annual pseudostems (false stems made of the rolled bases of ...
, although
cinnamon Cinnamon is a spice obtained from the inner bark of several tree species from the genus '' Cinnamomum''. Cinnamon is used mainly as an aromatic condiment and flavouring additive in a wide variety of cuisines, sweet and savoury dishes, brea ...
and nutmeg are also common additions. In the United Kingdom, as well as being used in the typical pies, tarts and crumbles, rhubarb compote is also combined with whipped cream or custard to make rhubarb
fool Fool, The Fool, or Fools may refer to: *A jester, also called a ''fool'', a type of historical entertainer known for their witty jokes *An insult referring to someone of low intelligence or easy gullibility Arts, entertainment and media Fictio ...
. In the United States, the common usage of rhubarb in pies has led to it being nicknamed "pie plant", by which it is referred to in 19th-century cookbooks. Rhubarb in the US is also often paired with strawberries to make strawberry-rhubarb pie, though some rhubarb purists jokingly consider this "a rather unhappy marriage". Rhubarb can also be used to make alcoholic drinks, such as fruit wines or Finnish rhubarb sima (mead). It is also used to make Kompot.


Nutrition

Raw rhubarb is 94% water, 5%
carbohydrate In organic chemistry, a carbohydrate () is a biomolecule consisting of carbon (C), hydrogen (H) and oxygen (O) atoms, usually with a hydrogen–oxygen atom ratio of 2:1 (as in water) and thus with the empirical formula (where ''m'' may or ...
s, 1%
protein Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including catalysing metabolic reactions, DNA replication, respon ...
, and contains negligible fat (table). In a reference amount, raw rhubarb supplies of food energy, and is a rich source of vitamin K (28% of the Daily Value, DV), a moderate source of
vitamin C Vitamin C (also known as ascorbic acid and ascorbate) is a water-soluble vitamin found in citrus and other fruits and vegetables, also sold as a dietary supplement and as a topical 'serum' ingredient to treat melasma (dark pigment spots) a ...
(10% DV), and contains no other
micronutrient Micronutrients are essential dietary elements required by organisms in varying quantities throughout life to orchestrate a range of physiological functions to maintain health. Micronutrient requirements differ between organisms; for example, huma ...
s in significant amounts (table).


Traditional Chinese medicine

In
traditional Chinese medicine Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is an alternative medicine, alternative medical practice drawn from traditional medicine in China. It has been described as "fraught with pseudoscience", with the majority of its treatments having no logica ...
, rhubarb roots of several species were used as a
laxative Laxatives, purgatives, or aperients are substances that loosen stools and increase bowel movements. They are used to treat and prevent constipation. Laxatives vary as to how they work and the side effects they may have. Certain stimulant, lub ...
for several millennia, although there is no clinical evidence to indicate such use is effective.


Phytochemistry and potential toxicity

The roots and stems contain
anthraquinones ''For the parent molecule 9,10-anthraquinone, see anthraquinone'' Anthraquinones (also known as anthraquinonoids) are a class of naturally occurring phenolic compounds based on the 9,10-anthraquinone skeleton. They are widely used industrially and ...
, such as emodin and rhein. The anthraquinones have been separated from powdered rhubarb root for purposes in
traditional medicine Traditional medicine (also known as indigenous medicine or folk medicine) comprises medical aspects of traditional knowledge that developed over generations within the folk beliefs of various societies, including indigenous peoples, before th ...
, although long-term consumption of the plant has been associated with
acute kidney failure Acute kidney injury (AKI), previously called acute renal failure (ARF), is a sudden decrease in kidney function that develops within 7 days, as shown by an increase in serum creatinine or a decrease in urine output, or both. Causes of AKI are c ...
. The rhizomes contain
stilbenoid Stilbenoids are hydroxylated derivatives of stilbene. They have a C6–C2–C6 structure. In biochemical terms, they belong to the family of phenylpropanoids and share most of their biosynthesis pathway with chalcones. Most stilbenoids are prod ...
compounds (including rhaponticin), and the flavanol glucosides (+)- catechin-5-O-glucoside and (−)- catechin-7-O-glucoside.


Oxalic acid

Rhubarb leaves contain
poison Poison is a chemical substance that has a detrimental effect to life. The term is used in a wide range of scientific fields and industries, where it is often specifically defined. It may also be applied colloquially or figuratively, with a broa ...
ous substances, including oxalic acid, a nephrotoxin. The long term consumption of oxalic acid leads to kidney stone formation in humans. Humans have been poisoned after ingesting the leaves, a particular problem during
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
when the leaves were mistakenly recommended as a food source in Britain. The toxic rhubarb leaves have been used in flavouring extracts, after the oxalic acid is removed by treatment with precipitated chalk (i.e., calcium carbonate). The (median lethal dose) for pure oxalic acid in rats is about 375 mg/kg body weight, or about 25 grams for a human. Other sources give a much higher oral LDLo (lowest published lethal dose) of 600 mg/kg. While the oxalic acid content of rhubarb leaves can vary, a typical value is about 0.5%, meaning a 65 kg adult would need to eat 4 to 8 kg (9 to 18 lbs) to obtain a lethal dose, depending on which lethal dose is assumed. Cooking the leaves with baking soda can make them more poisonous by producing soluble oxalates. The leaves are believed to also contain an additional, unidentified toxin, which might be an anthraquinone
glycoside In chemistry, a glycoside is a molecule in which a sugar is bound to another functional group via a glycosidic bond. Glycosides play numerous important roles in living organisms. Many plants store chemicals in the form of inactive glycoside ...
(also known as senna glycosides). In the petioles (leaf stalks), the proportion of oxalic acid is about 10% of the total 2–2.5% acidity, which derives mainly from malic acid. Serious cases of rhubarb poisoning are not well documented. Both fatal and non-fatal cases of rhubarb poisoning may be caused not by oxalates, but rather by toxic anthraquinone glycosides.


Pests

The rhubarb curculio, '' Lixus concavus'', is a weevil. Rhubarb is a host, damage being visible mainly on the leaves and stalks, with gummosis, and oval or circular feeding and/or egg-laying sites. Hungry wildlife may dig up and eat rhubarb roots in the spring, as stored starches are turned to sugars for new foliage growth.


In Zoroastrian mythology

According to certain
Middle Persian Middle Persian or Pahlavi, also known by its endonym Pārsīk or Pārsīg () in its later form, is a Western Middle Iranian language which became the literary language of the Sasanian Empire. For some time after the Sasanian collapse, Middle Per ...
Zoroastrian Zoroastrianism is an Iranian religion and one of the world's oldest organized faiths, based on the teachings of the Iranian-speaking prophet Zoroaster. It has a dualistic cosmology of good and evil within the framework of a monotheistic ...
texts dealing with the creation of humankind, Mashya and Mashyana, the first human couple, first manifested on the earth as conjoined homunculi growing attached to a (ghostly) rhubarb plant. When Gayomart, the prototype of humanity, finally died as a result of the machinations of Ahriman the principle of evil and Jeh the demonic whore, he fell onto his left side and ejaculated onto the ground. The sun's rays gradually purified his
semen Semen, also known as seminal fluid, is an organic bodily fluid created to contain spermatozoa. It is secreted by the gonads (sexual glands) and other sexual organs of male or hermaphroditic animals and can fertilize the female ovum. Semen ...
, two parts being cared for by the messenger deity Neryosang and one part by Spendarmad, Amesha Spenta of the Earth. After the passage of forty years, Spendarmad's portion gave rise to the rhubarb plant bearing the human couple, who were then animated by the supreme deity Ohrmazd by means of the Farr ('kingly glory').
5. After Gayomard had emitted his seed as he lay dying, they filtered the seed by means of the light of the Sun; Neryosang guarded two parts of it, and Spandarmad accepted one part; and t remained within the earthfor forty years. 6.
n the completion of forty years, N, or n, is the fourteenth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''en'' (pronounced ), plural ''ens''. History ...
Mashye and Mashyane grew up from the earth in the astral body of a ''rivas'' (= rhubarb) plant having one stem of fifteen leaves, in such wise that their hands rested behind over their shoulders, and they were joined to each other, of the same height, and of the same product. 7. Betwixt them both light came up; and they were of such uniform height that it asnot evident which was the male and which the female, and ithwhich f themwas the light iven byOhrmazd, hat is, the light onto which the seed of the mortal being was affixed... 9. Then both of them changed from the astral body of a plant in to the astral body of a man, and that light, which is the soul, entered spiritually into them, that is, verily, they had grown up in the semblance of a tree, whose fruit was the ten races of mankind.
Iranian or Greater ''
Bundahishn ''Bundahishn'' (Avestan: , "Primal Creation") is the name traditionally given to an encyclopedic collection of Zoroastrian cosmogony and cosmology written in Book Pahlavi. The original name of the work is not known. Although the ''Bundahishn'' ...
'' ( 8th–9th century CE )
selected verses from Chapter 14: 'Concerning Humankind'
( extract from the English translation by Behramgore Tehmuras Anklesaria ).A translation of the Iranian or Greater Bundahišn
by Anklesaria, Behramgore Tehmuras (1956) at Avesta.org


Gallery

File:Rhubarb in market 1.JPG, Rhubarb displayed for sale at a market File:A 19th century apothecary jar for Rhubarb.jpg, A 19th-century
apothecary ''Apothecary'' () is a mostly archaic term for a medical professional who formulates and dispenses '' materia medica'' (medicine) to physicians, surgeons, and patients. The modern chemist (British English) or pharmacist (British and North Amer ...
jar for rhubarb File:Strawberry Rhubarb, Dried Fruit.jpg, Dried strawberry-flavoured rhubarb


References


Further reading

*Thompson, Fed S
Rhubarb or Pie Plant Culture
1894. 1894
*Morse, J. E
The New Rhubarb Culture
1901. 1901

1903

1909
*Bland, Reginald
Winter rhubarb, culture and marketing
1915. *


External links

* * {{Authority control Medicinal plants Perennial vegetables Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Rheum (plant) Stem vegetables Nephrotoxins