Rhubarb (Rheum species): the role of Edinburgh in its cultivation and development

Abstract

Rhubarb was grown and used throughout China for thousands of years. It then found its way to St Petersburg where the Romanovs developed a flourishing trade in the plant to the rest of Europe. James Mounsey, a physician to the Tsar, brought back seeds from Russia to Scotland at considerable risk to himself. He passed some of the seeds to Alexander Dick and John Hope. Both these physicians then grew rhubarb at Prestonfield and the Botanic Garden (both in Edinburgh), respectively. Eventually rhubarb, in the form of Gregory's powder, became a common and popular medicine throughout the UK.

Keywords: Dick; Gregory; Hope; Mounsey; Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh; St Petersburg; laxative.