Rheum officinale and R. palmatum (Chinese rhubarb)

Rhubarb is a well-known ancient medicinal plant that has been successfully used as a laxative. In Europe, it was for a long time only known as a dried import product from the East, but according to Henrik Smid (1556), the Franciscans must have grown it in the Middle Ages. It has been assumed that the Franciscans also cultivated it in Bergen.

The rhubarb we eat today is the result of crosses between several species and selection for juicy, tasty (sweet-sour) leaf stalks.

Return to Bergen's plants.