Marshall, D. E. 1988. A Bibliography of Rhubarb and Rheum Species. United States
Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Library and Agricultural Research
Service Bibliographies and Literature of Agriculture No. 62. 377 p.
Rhubarb, Rheum rhabarbarum, commonly called R. rhaponticum, is an ancient plant.
Rhubarb is a name applied both to a drug and to a vegetable. Rhubarb includes a large
genus of perennial, coarse- and large-leaved, stout herbs, distributed in the temperate
and subtropical regions of the world, chiefly in Asia. Several species are used as
drugs in medicine; some are used for culinary purposes; and a few others are grown as
ornamentals. This compilation of over 3,385 references is an exhaustive listing of every
known area of research from around the world, with basic and applied research reports,
bulletins, theses, books, and a limited number of popular articles. Rhubarb as a
vegetable for food consists of the leaf stalks or petioles of Rheum rhabarbarum or R.
rhaponticum. The large leaves, however, are very toxic to humans and some animals
because of the calcium oxalates and/or anthrone glycosides they contain. Many
fatalities have been recorded from the ingestion of the leaves. Rhubarb's medicinal use
dates back to B.C. 2700 in China. Dried, powdered roots of R. palamatum, R. officinale,
R. emodi, etc., are used as ingredients in purgatives, laxatives, stomachics, and
digestive tonics.
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