Rhubarb - AccessScience from McGraw-Hill Education http://www.accessscience.com/content/rhubarb/588000 (http://www.accessscience.com/) Article by: Carew, H. John Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan. Publication year: 2014 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1036/1097-8542.588000 (http://dx.doi.org/10.1036/1097-8542.588000) Content Bibliography Additional Readings An herbaceous perennial, Rheum rhaponticum, of Mediterranean origin, belonging to the plant order Polygonales in older botanical classifications or Caryophyllales in newer classifications. Rhubarb (see illustration) is grown for its thick petioles (stalks or stems that support the leaf blades), which are used mainly as a cooked dessert; frequently, it is called the pie-plant. The leaves, which are high in oxalic acid content, are not commonly considered edible. Propagation is by division of root crowns. Victoria, Macdonald, and Valentine are popular varieties (cultivars). Commercial production is limited generally to areas where crowns may become dormant for 2–3 months each year. Outdoor rhubarb is a common garden vegetable in most areas of the United States except the South. Harvesting begins in the spring and continues for 6–10 weeks. Commercial plantings are renewed every 4–8 years. In the United States, Michigan and Washington are important centers for forced or hothouse rhubarb. Two- or three-year-old field-grown crowns are moved into darkened forcing structures in late winter and forced at 55–60°F (12.8–15.6°C) to obtain petioles of a bright-red color. See also: Caryophyllales (/content/caryophyllales /111600); Horticultural crops (/content/horticultural-crops/323900); Polygonales (/content/polygonales/534800) Rhubarb (Rheum rhaponticum). (Photograph courtesy of P. J. Bennett, Lakewood, OH) H. John Carew Bibliography 1 of 3 6/16/2016 6:43 AM Rhubarb - AccessScience from McGraw-Hill Education http://www.accessscience.com/content/rhubarb/588000 C. M. Foust, Rhubarb: The Wondrous Drug, Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ, 1992 T. Püssa et al., Polyphenolic composition of roots and petioles of Rheum rhaponticum L., Phytochem. Anal., 20:98–103, 2009 DOI: 10.1002/pca.1102 (http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/pca.1102) J. Roggemans and P. Boxus, Rhubarb (Rheum rhaponticum L.), pp. 339–350, in Y. P. S. Bajaj (ed.), Biotechnology in Agriculture and Forestry 6: Crops II, Springer, Berlin, 1988 Additional Readings R. Lively (ed.), Taunton's Complete Guide to Growing Vegetables & Herbs, Taunton Press, Newtown, CT, 2011 N. K. Sinha (ed.), Handbook of Vegetables and Vegetable Processing, Wiley-Blackwell, Ames, IA, 2011 Rhubarb (Rheum rhaponticum, Rhubarbarum verum) (http://www.nutri-ception.co.uk/office/documents/pdf/NCF0109.pdf) The Rhubarb Compendium (http://www.rhubarbinfo.com/) 2 of 3 6/16/2016 6:43 AM .