Rheum officinale

Rheum officinale, the Chinese rhubarb, or Indian rhubarb is a rhubarb from the family Polygonaceae native to China. In the Chinese it is called yào yòng dà huáng (Chinese: 药用大黄). A perennial typically to 2m in height. R. officinale has a chromosome count of 2n=44. This species is endemic to southeast China, where it occurs in the provinces of Guizhou, southwestern Henan, western Hubei, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Yunnan and possibly Fujian. Leaf petiole said to be edible raw or cooked. In Indonesia, especially in Java where it is known as klembak in Javanese, and it is usually dried, and mixed with tobacco and frankincense to create a rokok klembak menyan, a traditional Javanese frankincense cigarette. The roots of Rheum officinale are used in traditional Chinese medicine. In Chinese traditional medicine, R. officinale, in combination with a large variety of other herbs and modern medicine, has been used for the treatment of hepatitis B, although the results were found to be inconclusive.