[Rhubarb in the East and the West].

An etymological account of edible rhubards (stalks) and medicinal rhubarbs (rhizomes) is presented. Rheum rhaponticum (edible) was originally brought to the West from the barbarian Volga (old name Rha) district and from the Black Sea (old name Pontus) area. Rha comes from the Indo-European protolanguage *sreu, which means river or to flow. Rha barbarum was transformed to rhubarb in English and to Rhabarber in German. Medicinal rhubarbs are R. palmatum (the shape of its leaves are palm shaped), R. tanguticum from Tangut, China, and R. officinale and R. coreanum (both of which need no explanation). The relationship of Rheum with Rumex is also mentioned.