Rhubarb Powder

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 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 Polygo-naceae 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 rmacist named Hayward began developing and growing the type of rhubarb most commonly grown today. Records indicate that rhubarb was first grown as a market crop in England in 1810. But because it was unknown, few people purchased it. In the next one hundred years, its popularity grew tremendously. The average life expectancy of rhubarb plants is five to eight years. Although rhubarb produces seeds, they can give birth to plants remarkably different from the parent plant. For this reason, rhubarb cultivation is usually done by cutting and replanting pieces of its large storage root.