Da Huang

Rheum palmatum, Chinese or Turkish rhubarb, is a large perennial herbaceous plant in the family Polygonaceae, native to the cool mountainous regions of western China, Tibet, and Mongolia. It grows from a thick, branching, woody rhizome with deep yellow internal flesh and stout, fleshy roots. Basal leaves are very large, up to 90 cm across, broadly cordate, and deeply palmately lobed into 5-7 acute, pinnately cut segments borne on long, stout, reddish petioles. A robust hollow flowering stem rises 1.5-3 meters and bears a large terminal panicle of small, six-tepalled, greenish-white to deep red flowers. Fruit is a three-winged reddish-brown achene. Da Huang refers to the dried rhizome and root.