- The juicy reddish stalks of the rhubarb plant are often used to make pies and preserves. The …
Known also as pieplant, rhubarb is a leafy plant with long stalks. People use rhubarb to prepare a variety of dishes. Only the stalks of the plant are eaten, however, because the leaves contain a poison. The stalks are crisp and have a tart flavor. Rhubarb is a vegetable, but it is often cooked with sugar and used like a fruit in pies and preserves. Strawberry-rhubarb pie and crisp are especially popular summer desserts in parts of the United States. Rhubarb is native to Asia. Thousands of years ago the Chinese grew rhubarb and used it in folk medicine for stomach ailments. It grows best in places with cool weather. Physical featuresThere are several species, or types, of rhubarb plants. They have broad, green, heart-shaped leaves that grow up to 2 feet (60 centimeters) across. The leaves typically have large veins, and some leaves are wrinkled. They grow at the end of the stalks, which are pink, green, red, or red-green. The stalks are about 2 feet (60 centimeters) long and about 1 to 2 inches (2.5 to 5 centimeters) across. Clusters of tiny flowers grow at the end of tall flower stalks. These flowers may be white, yellow, or greenish red, depending on the plant. Beneath the soil, rhubarb has a broad, fleshy underground stem called a crown. The roots grow from the crown. How rhubarb growsRhubarb leaves and stalks die in freezing weather, but the roots can live through the winter and produce fresh leaf stalks every year beginning in early spring. They are harvested about six weeks later when the stalks are mature. After the plant flowers, it produces fewer leafy stalks. For this reason gardeners remove flower stalks as soon as they appear to encourage further growth of leaf stalks. Most people grow rhubarb from crowns that are several years old. The crowns are planted with the roots about 2 inches (5 centimeters) below the soil. They can produce edible stalks in the first year. The stalks are typically pulled or cut by hand. |