| Rheum lhasaense | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Order: | Caryophyllales |
| Family: | Polygonaceae |
| Genus: | Rheum |
| Species: | R. lhasaense |
| Binomial name | |
| Rheum lhasaense A.J. Li & P.K. Hsiao [1] | |
Rheum lhasaense is a plant from eastern Tibet belonging to the genus Rheum in family Polygonaceae. It is a mid-sized rhubarb species with triangular leaves and spherical fruit. [1]
The species was first collected in 1965, [2] [3] but first described as a new species in 1983 in the Flora Xizangica. [4]
The holotype was collected in 1965 by 张永田 郎楷永, held by the PE herbarium in Xiangshan, and is numbered PE-884218-00000017. [2] [3]
It is a herbaceous perennial plant growing to 30–70 cm high. The stems are usually glabrous (hairless), but sometimes pubescent at the nodes, and 7-10mm in diameter near the base of plant. [1]
The basal leaves have a 3–7 cm long petiole which is subterete in profile, and having a surface covered in numerous papilla. The leaves are of a narrowly triangular or triangular-ovate, rarely narrowly ovate, shape. These leaves are 8–20 in length, 6–13 cm in width, with an upper surface glabrous and the lower with short hispid hairs, with five main veins branching from the base and with a slightly wavy (sinuolate) margin (edge). The base of these leaves is cordate and they end in an obtuse (dull) or acute (sharp) apex (point). [1]
There are 1 or 2 small leaves on the stem (of the inflorescence) which have very tiny petioles with a short and membranous ochrea. [1]
The plant flowers in narrow greenish-purple panicles which branch in two only on the lower part of the inflorescence. There are very small bracts between the flowers. These flowers have a 2.5-3mm pedicel which is jointed below its middle. The tepals are broadly ovate in shape and coloured light green with a purple margin. [1]
The 8-9mm in diameter fruit is round with two small wings at its sides. These wings are narrow, 1.5-2mm wide, and have longitudinal veins near their middle. The seeds are round to oval-shaped and around 5mm in diameter, making them large for a rhubarb species. [1]
According to the 2003 key in the Flora of China , this species is distinguishable from other large-fruited species of Rheum: R. forrestii, R. likiangense and R. compactum, by having triangular-shaped leaves and purplish flowers, the others having white or yellowish flowers, and different shaped, never triangular, leaves. [5]
In the key in the 1989 Plants of Central Asia it is compared with R. pumilum, from which it chiefly differs by being larger in all aspects. [3]
Initially it was only known to occur at a few sites near the city of Lhasa in eastern Tibet, China, where it grows on grassy slopes at 4200-4600m elevation, perhaps higher. [1] [4] In 2004 it was collected in Riwoqê County in far eastern Tibet. [6]
It flowers from July to August, and fruits from September to October. [1]
It is known as qu zha in Tibet. [7] In Chinese it is known as 拉萨大黄, la sa da huang. [1]
It is inedible, but the roots are used in local Tibetian tradition as a medicinal plant for stomach aches. Uniquely, the roots of this species contain no trace of the anthraquinones for which other medicinal species of rhubarb popular in China are known for (such as R. palmatum or R. officinale ). It does, however, contain a number of different chemicals known as resveratrol oligomers which may possibly have some future commercial use in the herbal supplement market as antioxidants, although the antioxidant activity is moderate to low. Two of these resveratrol oligomers are thus far (as of 2013) unique to this species. [7] A Chinese patent was granted in 2014 for the use of these two chemicals to "reducing blood fat". [8]
In Chinese traditional medicine it is an ingredient in qingpeng ointment, a Tibetan ointment which is used for arthritis and eczema, amongst a number of other things. [9] [10]
The Polygonaceae are a family of flowering plants known informally as the knotweed family or smartweed—buckwheat family in the United States. The name is based on the genus Polygonum, and was first used by Antoine Laurent de Jussieu in 1789 in his book, Genera Plantarum. The name may refer to the many swollen nodes the stems of some species have, being derived from Greek, poly meaning 'many' and gony meaning 'knee' or 'joint'. Alternatively, it may have a different derivation, meaning 'many seeds'.
Peganum harmala, commonly called wild rue, Syrian rue, African rue, esfand, or harmel,, is a perennial, herbaceous plant, with a woody underground root-stock, of the family Nitrariaceae, usually growing in saline soils in temperate desert and Mediterranean regions. Its common English-language name came about because of a resemblance to rue. Because eating it can cause livestock to sicken or die, it is considered a noxious weed in a number of countries. It has become an invasive species in some regions of the western United States. The plant is popular in Middle Eastern and north African folk medicine. The alkaloids contained in the plant, including the seeds, are hallucinogenic, possibly due to a monoamine oxidase inhibitor, thus it is sold in the West for recreational drug use.
Rheum palmatum is a species of flowering plant in the knotweed family Polygonaceae. It is commonly called Chinese rhubarb, ornamental rhubarb, Turkey rhubarb or East Indian rhubarb.
Rheum nobile, the Sikkim rhubarb or noble rhubarb or पदमचाल, is a giant herbaceous plant native to the Himalaya, from northeastern Afghanistan, east through northern Pakistan and India, Nepal, Sikkim, Bhutan, and Tibet to Myanmar, occurring in the alpine zone at 4000–4800 m altitude.
Rheum is a genus of about 60 herbaceous perennial plants in the family Polygonaceae. Species are native to eastern Europe, southern and eastern temperate Asia, with a few reaching into northern tropical Asia. Rheum is cultivated in Europe and North America. The genus includes the vegetable rhubarb. The species have large somewhat triangular shaped leaves with long, fleshy petioles. The flowers are small, greenish-white to rose-red, and grouped in large compound leafy inflorescences. A number of cultivars of rhubarb have been domesticated both as medicinal plants and for human consumption. While the leaves are slightly toxic, the stalks are used in pies and other foods for their tart flavor.
Oxyria is a genus of plants in the family Polygonaceae with three accepted species as of March 2019. It has a circumboreal distribution.
Krascheninnikovia is a genus of flowering plants in the subfamily Chenopodioideae of the family Amaranthaceae known as winterfat, so-called because it is a nutritious livestock forage. They are known from Eurasia and western North America. These are hairy perennials or small shrubs which may be monoecious or dioecious. They bear spike inflorescences of woolly flowers.
Rheum rhabarbarum is a species of flowering plant in the family Polygonaceae, native to southern Siberia to north and central China. It has been harvested from the wild for centuries for its root, which was harvested for use as a popular medicine in Europe and Asia. It was later cultivated for its root in England and Russia. It is considered to be one of the species involved in the development of culinary rhubarb, for which the scientific name R. rhabarbarum is sometimes (erroneously) used.
Spinacia is a flowering plant genus in the subfamily Chenopodioideae of the family Amaranthaceae. The most common member is spinach.
Rheum australe, synonym Rheum emodi, is a flowering plant in the family Polygonaceae. It is commonly known as Himalayan rhubarb,, Indian rhubarb and Red-veined pie plant. It is a medicinal herb used in the Indian Unani system of medicine, and formerly in the European system of medicine where it was traded as Indian rhubarb. The plant is found in the sub-alpine and alpine Himalayas at an altitude of 4000 m.
Roscoea alpina is a perennial herbaceous plant native to the Himalayas. Most members of the ginger family (Zingiberaceae), to which it belongs, are tropical, but R. alpina, like other species of Roscoea, grows in much colder mountainous regions. It is sometimes grown as an ornamental plant in gardens.
Roscoea tibetica is a perennial herbaceous plant native to the mountains of China, being found in Tibet, Sichuan and Yunnan. The species formerly included plants found in Bhutan; in 2000, these were separated into a new species, Roscoea bhutanica. Most members of the ginger family (Zingiberaceae), to which it belongs, are tropical, but R. tibetica, like other species of Roscoea, grows in much colder mountainous regions. R. tibetica is sometimes grown as an ornamental plant in gardens. In 2020, it was proposed that R. tibetica be split again.
Roscoea capitata is a perennial herbaceous plant native to the Himalayas, being found in Nepal. Most members of the ginger family (Zingiberaceae), to which it belongs, are tropical, but R. capitata, like other species of Roscoea, grows in much colder mountainous regions.
Roscoea praecox is a perennial herbaceous plant occurring in the Yunnan province of China. Most members of the ginger family (Zingiberaceae), to which it belongs, are tropical, but R. praecox, like other species of Roscoea, grows in much colder mountainous regions. It is sometimes grown as an ornamental plant in gardens.
Roscoea debilis is a perennial herbaceous plant found in Yunnan, China. Most members of the ginger family (Zingiberaceae), to which it belongs, are tropical, but R. debilis, like other species of Roscoea, grows in much colder mountainous regions.
Roscoea schneideriana is a perennial herbaceous plant found in China, in Tibet, Sichuan and Yunnan. Most members of the ginger family (Zingiberaceae), to which it belongs, are tropical, but R. schneideriana, like other species of Roscoea, grows in much colder mountainous regions.
Syringa tomentella is a species in the genus Syringa, in the family Oleaceae.
Sassafras tzumu is a species of Sassafras native to China, in Anhui, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Sichuan, Yunnan and Zhejiang. It grows in either sparse or dense forests habitat types, at altitudes of 100–1900 meters.
Rheum webbianum is a species of herbaceous perennial rhubarb-relative in the family Polygonaceae from the southwestern Himalayan region, known in (Indian) English as Indian rhubarb, Gilgiti rhubarb or small Himalayan rhubarb.
Koenigia campanulata is a species of flowering plant in the family Polygonaceae. It is native to China, Bhutan, north Myanmar, Nepal and Sikkim. It has been introduced into south Chile, Great Britain and Ireland.
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