Tangut rhubarb: photo, description, application

Tangut rhubarb is a blooming perennial, Mongolia and China are the birthplace of it. The healing properties of this plant were known even by the ancient Greek and Persian healers. It was thanks to them that the inhabitants of European countries learned about the rhubarb. In Russia, he was in 1872. Since then, it is actively used to treat various diseases. In today's article you will find more detailed information about this unique plant.

Short description

The Tangut rhubarb is a herbaceous plant with a multi-headed short rhizome, from which large spindle-shaped processes extend. On the unbranched hollow stems, covered with reddish spots, there are fleecy leaves. Their length, together with the petioles, is about 1 m.

The height of the finest, straight stalk ranges from one and a half to three meters. The rhubarb fruit is a trihedral red-brown nutlet, whose length does not exceed 10 cm. Near the roots of the plant are juicy large leaves of a green hue. In May or June, the Tangut rhubarb, whose photo can be seen in today's article, is covered with numerous small white or red flowers localized at the tips of the stems. The plant produces a specific odor and has a bitter-tart taste.

Distribution area

Natural plantings of rhubarb can be seen only in forest and mountain areas of Central China. There it grows in a natural environment at an altitude of about 2500-3200 meters above sea level.

On an industrial scale, it is cultivated in the mountains of Siberia, the Baltics, Belarus and Ukraine. The main places of cultivation of this perennial are localized in the states of Central Asia and in countries of Western Europe.

Planting and care

As the Tangut rhubarb, the Latin name of which sounds like Rheum palmatum L., is a cold-resistant plant, it can be sown immediately into the ground. It is desirable to do this in the early spring or in the middle of October. A few months before the alleged rhubarb planting, the site is digested with humus (three buckets of fertilizer are taken per 1 m ^{2 of the} area).

Sprouted seeds are laid in pre-prepared furrows at a distance of twenty centimeters from each other and are closed to a depth of 1-1.5 cm. Further care for the seedlings is reduced to regular watering, weeding and systematic loosening of the soil around the emerged sprouts.

Feed the plant a couple of times a season. Do this with the use of liquid organic or complex mineral fertilizers. Plus, every four years under the bushes you need to make a couple buckets of manure or humus.

Diseases and pests

Like any other plant, the rhubarb can be affected by some ailments. If there is no proper care, ramularia can appear on it. This fungal disease manifests itself in the form of red-brown spots, increasing as the disease progresses. At the same time they merge with each other, and their middle loses a bright color. In rainy weather, a powdery coating of silvery-gray or white appears on them. To prevent further development of the disease in the fall, all plant residues are removed from the site, and the surface of the soil is treated with any copper-containing preparation.

A less common disease of rhubarb is powdery mildew. It is easy to identify by the characteristic loose white whitening attacking the leaves of plants. Over time, it becomes denser and becomes brown. As a result, the affected parts stop growing, become black and gradually die off. Plants infected with powdery mildew lose their frost resistance. To combat this problem, one-percent Bordeaux liquid is usually used.

In addition, on the leaves of rhubarb sometimes there is a so-called rust. It is a fungal infection that leads to the formation of pustules. When cracking, rusty spores emerge from them. Infected specimens have a lag in growth and a slowdown in metabolic processes. To combat this problem, it is necessary to cut the affected leaves, and the plant itself should be treated twice with "Topaz". Apply this drug with a ten-day interval.

With regard to pests, the greatest danger for rhubarb is the caterpillars of the core scoop. Eggs of this insect winter over near the bushes. In the spring of them appear yellow or dirty-white caterpillars, whose length can reach 4.5 centimeters. They devour the flesh of plants, penetrating into their petioles and leaves. Damaged elements begin to die, and parasites creep into untouched areas.

The so-called rhubarb weevils bear no less threat to this curative plant. These six-millimeter bugs, whose elytra are covered with brown and pale gray scales, eat leaves. And the females of these pests lay eggs in rhubarb cuttings. The larvae emerging from them live on leaves and devour them. We can get rid of weevils by treating the rhubarb with a solution of manganese (5 grams of substance per 10 liters of water).

Onions, petioles and stems of this plant can also be planted with onion nematodes. These microscopic worms cause softening and swelling of rhubarb tissues, resulting in the bush gradually dying. Scientists have not yet invented an effective method of combating onion nematodes. On the site where these small worms were found, you can not plant anything for the next two years. And all the bushes growing on it are subject to burning.

Collection and procurement of raw materials

In non-traditional medicine, the rhubarb root of Tangut (in Latin Rheum palmatum L.) is widely used. The procurement of this valuable raw material usually takes place in September. The excavated roots of the four-year-old plants are cleaned of soil debris and ground part, washed with cold water and sorted out from the spoiled elements.

Then they are cut into 10 cm pieces and dried. First they are laid out in the sun, and then - in the shade or in a normally ventilated room. Also for these purposes, you can use a special dryer. In this form, rhubarb roots can be stored for about five years.

Biological features

Tangut (lily-shaped) rhubarb grows beautifully in the area where a high level of humidity of air and soil is maintained throughout the growing season. At the same time, it is very sensitive to the near occurrence of groundwater. It can not be cultivated in swamped and flooded areas.

Within three years, the plant has time to form a well developed root system, penetrating to a depth of about half a meter, and a powerful aboveground part. All this becomes possible only on fertile, perfectly drained soil. Rhubarb Tangut grows well on light loamy chernozems. For him, boggy and sandy soils are categorically not suitable.

The minimum germination temperature of seeds is 5-6 degrees. But ideally this indicator should be in the range of 15-20 ⁰ C. Under such conditions, the seeds begin to swell after 48-50 hours, and the first shoots appear on the fifth day.

Chemical composition

Tangut rhubarb contains ten essential amino acids necessary for the normal functioning of the human body. It contains enough fiber, pectin, digestible carbohydrates and vegetable protein. Plus, he is rich in tocopherol, routine, ascorbic acid, niacin, pyridoxine, riboflavin and thiamine.

In parts of this plant contains a rather high concentration of biologically active substances, ether-like compounds and mineral salts. It is rich in iron, phosphorus, magnesium, calcium and potassium.

The Benefits of Plants

Healing properties of this perennial are due to its unique chemical composition. Tangut rhubarb preparations are prescribed for people suffering from anemia, hemorrhoids, atherosclerosis, tuberculosis and liver and bladder diseases. Thanks to the antiseptic and anti-inflammatory properties of this plant, it effectively helps in the fight against some skin ailments.

When the antraglycosides contained in it are cleaved, a film is formed that reliably protects the mucous membrane of the gastrointestinal tract. As a result, there is a normalization of the stool, an increase in general tone, an improvement in appetite and an acceleration of metabolic processes.

Tangut rhubarb: application in folk medicine

Our great-grandmothers actively used this perennial for the treatment of many diseases. Some of these recipes have survived to this day. Broth of rhubarb, cooked from a couple of tablespoons of dry vegetable raw materials and 250 milliliters of water, copes well with constipation. It is taken in small portions before going to bed.

Infusion of rhubarb, made from 300 milliliters of boiling water and a couple of tablespoons of dried plant, used to rinse hair. Thanks to this simple procedure, the village ladies had silky shiny braids.

With hypertension fought with the help of a miracle cure made from two tablespoons of dried stems of rhubarb Tangut And a half glasses of water. All this was mixed in one saucepan and boiled on minimal heat for half an hour.