Rheum ribes

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Syrian rhubarb
Rheum ribes - Isgin 06.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Caryophyllales
Family: Polygonaceae
Genus: Rheum
Species:
R. ribes
Binomial name
Rheum ribes
Synonyms [1]
  • Rhabarbarum ribes(L.) Moench

Rheum ribes, the Syrian rhubarb or currant-fruited rhubarb, [2] or warty-leaved rhubarb, [3] is an edible wild rhubarb species in the genus Rheum . It grows between 1000 and 4000 m on dunite rocks, among stones and slopes, and is now distributed in the temperate and subtropical regions of the world, chiefly in Western Asia (Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Iran, Azerbaijan, Armenia) to Afghanistan and Pakistan and also in ladakh(Kargil) region of India.[ citation needed ] The Syrian rhubarb is a partially commercial vegetable collected from wild patches in Eastern and Southern Anatolia, Northern Iraq and partly Northwestern Iran in early spring.[ citation needed ]Rheum ribes is considered as a valuable medicinal species in herbal medicine.

Contents

Description

The Syrian rhubarb is a dichotomously branched perennial stout herb, up to 1 m tall. It has thick perennial rhizomes, large annual bean-shaped reddish-green leaves with stalks, edible flower stalks, small yellowish flowers arranged in panicles, three-sided ovate-oblong achenes and broad red-winged dull brown fruit. [4] The flowering stem (peduncle) is solid, warty, leafy below, leafless above. [5]

Similar species

It is very similar to the species Rheum palaestinum , being distinguished by having five central leaf veins as opposed to three, and being taller. [6]

Agnia Losina-Losinskaja considered it very similar in leaves and flowers to R. maximowiczii from further north in Central Asia, but to be distinguished from it by its much rougher stem, much longer leaf petioles and broader inflorescence. R. maximowiczii furthermore has three veins per leaf. [7]

Karyotypy

R. ribes has a chromosome count of 2n=44. [8]

Taxonomy

Rheum ribes was first formally described in 1753 by Carl Linnaeus. [9] It was one of three species of Rheum described in Species Plantarum volume 1. Linnaeus referred to five earlier authors who had described the plant: Johann Jacob Dillenius, Jacob Breyne (who calls it a Lapathum, known as Ribes arabicum), Richard Pococke [10] (who published in 1745 a description of his travels in the Near East and who brought seeds to England from Lebanon [11] ), Leonhard Rauwolf and Gaspard Bauhin. [10]

In 1936 Losina-Losinskaja, in Komarov's Flora SSSR, classifies this species in section Ribesiformia, in which she also places R. maximowiczii, R. fedtschenkoi, R. cordatum, R. hissaricum and R. macrocarpum (and R. lobatum and R. plicatum, which are both now seen as synonyms of R. macrocarpum). [12]

History

This plant is first mentioned in Europe in the Arabic work, in English called the Book of Simple Medicaments, by Serapion the Younger, the Latin translation of which circulated throughout Europe in the late 13th to 15th century. Serapion says the plant is used to make the medicine thenceforth known in Europe as rob ribes. [11] In Europe, herbalists initially thought he was describing a currant, which they then used to make local, lesser ribes.

One of the first European works to write about this plant unambiguously was the Viertes Kreutterbuech - darein vil schoene und frembde Kreutter of 1576 by Leonhard Rauwolf, the first modern European botanist to travel through the Levant and Mesopotamia. The Viertes Kreutterbuech is one of the first herbaria – the first with plants collected outside of Europe – and contains Rauwolf's notes on the pressed plants displayed. Rauwolf calls the plant Ribes arabum and saw it growing in Lebanon and Palestine. He says the rob ribes of Serapion is made from the young flowering stalk. [11] [10] [13]

In the 1623 Pinax Theatri Botanici, Gaspard Bauhin attempts to sort all the plant names hitherto published. In this work he organises all Grossularia and Ribes species known at the time into 13 species, the twelfth of which is Rheum ribes, which Bauhin calls Ribes arabicum. Bauhin bases this on the work of Rauwolf, but also Clusius (who calls it Ribes legitima arabum), Camerarius (Ribes serapionis), Rembert Dodoens (Ribes serapionis foliis oxylapathi) and Pierre Belon. [14]

In 1732, Johann Jacob Dillenius published his Hortus Elthamensis – a book of rare plants grown in London – which describes this plant. He calls it a type of Lapathum (now Rumex ), but mentions that it is known as Ribes arabicum. [10] Dillenius obtained seeds in 1726 from William Sherard, who brought them from Lebanon in 1724. He mentions that it was only grown elsewhere in Europe in Leyden, from an older source. [11]

The specific epithet ribes is thus derived via Serapion from the Arabic word rībās (ريباس), referring to the Syrian rhubarb. [15] The New Latin word ribes (currant) was corrupted from the Arabic word rībās by Europeans in the Renaissance, possibly due confusion with the original description of the bunches of berries on its panicle of fruit, with currants, a new crop at the time. R. ribes, unlike many other species of rhubarb, has a fleshy, succulent epicarp around its seeds. [11]

The generic name Rheum is derived from the Greek rheon, mentioned by Dioscorides as a name for medicinal rhubarb; the word rheon is itself thought to be derived from the (old) Persian rewend, which possibly referred to this species. [16]

Distribution

It is native to Syria [17] [18] (including the occupied Golan Heights), [6] [19] [17] Azerbaijan (including Nakhichevan), [17] [20] Jordan, [17] Lebanon, [17] [18] Armenia (as of 2011), [20] Iraq, [21] Turkey, [17] [21] Iran, [21] Pakistan, [21] Afghanistan [21] and Russia. [21]

Ecology

Rheum ribes in early May in situ at Karasakal Mt., Tufanbeyli, near Adana, Turkey. Rheum ribes - Isgin 08.jpg
Rheum ribes in early May in situ at Karasakal Mt., Tufanbeyli, near Adana, Turkey.

Habitat

It is a floristic element of the Irano-Turanian Region or Iran-Turan Plant Geography Region. [5]

It is found in eastern Turkey on dry mountain slopes at 1600-2600m elevation in association with the plants Prangos ferulacea and Cousinia sivasica with which it forms the dominant flora such ecosystems. [22] In Israel it is found on rocky slopes and cliffs in the transition zone of montane forests of Quercus boissieri . [6]

Insects

Rheum ribes is the main food plant of a tiny hairstreak butterfly, Callophrys mystaphia , of which the Turkish name is ışgınzümrütü, the 'rhubarb emerald', in Adiyaman, Hakkâri, Iğdır, Kahramanmaraş, Kars, Siirt and Van provinces in southeastern and eastern Turkey. [23] [24] [25] This butterfly had not been seen since its description in 1913 (it turned out that the butterflies identified under this name in the former Soviet territories were in fact a different species), but in 2007–2008 it was rediscovered and its host plant was found. This animal has a distribution closely localised to Rheum populations, and has only been found in Turkey. [25]

R. ribes leaves are the food plant of the moth Xylena exsoleta in Van Province, Turkey. [26]

Beetles associated with R. ribes in eastern Turkey are a Petrocladus sp. weevil, the jewel beetle Capnodis marquardti , and the leaf beetle Labidostomis brevipennis . These are all specialised herbivores of the plant, and most appear endemic to Turkey as far as known. L. brevipennis lays its eggs on the leaves. [22]

Cooking

Immature inflorescences for sale at the historical market in Kadikoy, Istanbul, Turkey. Rheum ribes.jpg
Immature inflorescences for sale at the historical market in Kadıköy, Istanbul, Turkey.

The edible part of the plant is the flowering stem, which is eaten raw or cooked (ekşili ışgın [27] and ışkınlı yumurta [lit. 'eggs with wild rhubarb, Rheum ribes'] in Elazığ, Turkey; khoresh rivas [خورش ریواس] or "Persian rhubarb stew" in Iran) by the local people of Turkey, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan. [28] The flowering stem (the petiole) is often eaten raw as salad, sometimes sold in the local markets of Northern Balochistan. [21]

Traditional and current medicinal uses

Rheum ribes is the source of one of the most important crude drugs in West Asiatic regions. These plant vitamins A, B, C are seen in abundance. Syrian rhubarb root (Rhizoma Rhei ribi) is used traditionally to treat diabetes, hemorrhoids, ulcers, and diarrhea. [29] The plant is also used as a digestive and appetizer in Bitlis, Turkey. [30] Traditional herbal medicine stem and root dry plant for the treatment of anemia, anorexia, weakness, anxiety, depression and diabetes. [31] Traditionally Rheum ribes has been used in Iran as sedative and mood enhancer.

The anthraquinones chrysophanol, parietin and emodin, the flavonoids quercetin, fisetin, quercetin 3-0-rhamnoside, quercetin 3-0-galactoside and quercetin 3-0-rutinoside were isolated from the shoots of Syrian rhubarb. [32]

Conservation

In Israel it is an extremely rare plant found at two sites in the mountains of the Golan Heights, but it is not protected by law. [6] [33]

Names

Antiquated English names

rhubarb-currant, [34] warted-leaved rhubarb, [35] rhubarb of Babilonia [36]

Local names

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Polygonaceae</span> Knotweed family of flowering plants

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 origin, meaning 'many seeds'.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rhubarb</span> Species of herbaceous perennial plant with fleshy, sour edible stalks

Rhubarb is the fleshy, edible stalks (petioles) of species and hybrids 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 inedible. The small flowers are grouped in large compound leafy greenish-white to rose-red inflorescences.

<i>Ribes</i> Genus of flowering plants in the order Saxifragales

Ribes is a genus of about 200 known species of flowering plants, most of them native to the temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. The various species are known as currants or gooseberries, and some are cultivated for their edible fruit or as ornamental plants. Ribes is the only genus in the family Grossulariaceae.

<i>Rumex</i> Genus of plants

The docks and sorrels, genus Rumex, are a genus of about 200 species of annual, biennial, and perennial herbs in the buckwheat family, Polygonaceae. Members of this genus are very common perennial herbs with a native almost worldwide distribution, and introduced species growing in the few places where the genus is not native.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Redcurrant</span> Species of flowering plant in the gooseberry family Grossulariaceae

The redcurrant or red currant is a member of the genus Ribes in the gooseberry family. It is native to western Europe. The species is widely cultivated and has escaped into the wild in many regions.

<i>Onopordum</i> Genus of flowering plants

Onopordum, or cottonthistle, is a genus of plants in the tribe Cardueae within the family Asteraceae. They are native to southern Europe, northern Africa, the Canary Islands, the Caucasus, and southwest and central Asia. They grow on disturbed land, roadsides, arable land and pastures.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Buff ermine</span> Species of moth

The buff ermine is a moth of the family Erebidae. It is sometimes placed in the genus Spilosoma. The species was first described by Johann Siegfried Hufnagel in 1766. It is found throughout the temperate belt of the Palearctic region south to northern Turkey, Georgia, Kazakhstan, southern Siberia, eastern Mongolia, Amur Region, China, Korea and Japan.

<i>Rheum palmatum</i> Species of flowering plant

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.

<i>Rheum nobile</i> Species of flowering plant

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, Bhutan, and Tibet to Myanmar, occurring in the alpine zone at 4000–4800 m altitude.

<i>Rheum</i> (plant) Genus of flowering plants

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.

<i>Rheum officinale</i> Species of flowering plant

Rheum officinale, the Chinese rhubarb, or Indian rhubarb is a rhubarb from the family Polygonaceae native to China. In Chinese it is called yào yòng dà huáng, literally meaning medicinal rhubarb.

<i>Ribes aureum</i> Species of plant

Ribes aureum, known by the common names golden currant, clove currant, pruterberry and buffalo currant, is a species of flowering plant in the genus Ribes native to North America.

<i>Rheum palaestinum</i> Species of plant

Rheum palaestinum, the desert rhubarb, is a plant indigenous to Israel and Jordan with a highly developed system for gathering rainwater.

<i>Rheum rhabarbarum</i> Species of plant

Rheum rhabarbarum is a species of flowering plant in the family Polygonaceae, native to a region stretching from 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.

<i>Rheum australe</i> Species of flowering plant

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.

<i>Rheum maximowiczii</i> Species of flowering plant

Rheum maximowiczii is a large herbaceous perennial plant species in the genus Rheum (rhubarbs) from the mountains of Central Asia where it grows in Kazakhstan, eastern Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and northeastern Afghanistan.

<i>Rheum rhaponticum</i> Species of flowering plant

Rheum rhaponticum, the false rhubarb, rhapontic rhubarb or rhapontic, is a plant species in the genus Rheum found in the wild. It is the only Rheum species found only in Europe, and is now restricted to the Rila mountain range in south-western Bulgaria. It was introduced to other countries in Europe. It is considered to be one of the parents of the modern culinary rhubarb.

<i>Rheum webbianum</i> Species of plant

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.

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