# What's Rhubarb? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 23, 2003, 9:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-rhubarb/150413 "2003-01-23T09:10:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bronze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/41988e/32.png) [@Bronze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bronze)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2003, 9:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-rhubarb/150413/1 "2003-01-23T09:10:10Z")
For all you nutrition freaks out there… wot is Rhubarb, a fruit or a vegetable. I’ve even read that it’s a herb. I really need to know . Down here where I come from (the bottom of the globe) it’s considered to be fruit, what about in your neck of the woods? ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2003, 9:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-rhubarb/150413/2 "2003-01-23T09:12:55Z")
Uh, **Bronze** – I _think_ you’ve wandered into the wrong forum with this one. This here is the ranting forum. You might be more after General Questions (GQ) with this one. Try emailing a mod to close this one up or move it. ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2003, 9:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-rhubarb/150413/3 "2003-01-23T09:20:10Z")
**Moderator’s Note:** Cursed rhubard! Vile, insidious thing–is it a fruit or a vegetable? Or even a _herb_! Whatever it is, no decent, self-respecting… Oh, all right. Moving from the Pit to General Questions. ---
**Author:** ![Spit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/76d3ee/32.png) [@Spit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spit)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2003, 9:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-rhubarb/150413/4 "2003-01-23T09:26:21Z")
I just know my grandfather put it in his ice cream. Grossed me out every time. I seem to recall it being referred to as an herb. ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2003, 9:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-rhubarb/150413/5 "2003-01-23T09:26:54Z")
[A site about the fine “vegetable”,](http://www.rhubarbinfo.com/) **Bronze**. > [@](#): > > Rhubarb is a vegetable with a unique taste that makes it a favorite in many pies and desserts. It originated in Asia over 2,000 years ago. It was initially cultivated for its medicinal qualities, it was not until the 18th century that rhubarb was grown for culinary purposes in Britain and America. Rhubarb is often commonly mistaken to be a fruit but rhubarb is actually a close relative of garden sorrel, and is therefore a member of the vegetable family. ---
**Author:** ![LadyMack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4491bb/32.png) [@LadyMack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LadyMack)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2003, 9:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-rhubarb/150413/6 "2003-01-23T09:27:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by MEBuckner \* > \*\ ***Moderator’s Note:** Cursed rhubard! Vile, insidious thing–is it a fruit or a vegetable? Or even a _herb_! Whatever it is, no decent, self-respecting… > > Oh, all right. Moving from the Pit to General Questions. \*\* [yum]Strawberry Rhubarb Cobbler…[/yum] _:::.D&R.:::_ ---
**Author:** ![Spit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/76d3ee/32.png) [@Spit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spit)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2003, 9:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-rhubarb/150413/7 "2003-01-23T09:28:38Z")
I stand corrected. Of course, I was 4 or 5 at the time, so sue me. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2003, 9:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-rhubarb/150413/8 "2003-01-23T09:28:45Z")
Just an afterthought: I, as is with me, totally abuse the course of nature by treating rhubarb as a fruit that, chopped up, goes over extremely well with fried mince and onion. But, YMMV (and I’m sure it does!) 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![istara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e79b87/32.png) [@istara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/istara)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2003, 10:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-rhubarb/150413/9 "2003-01-23T10:18:55Z")
Rhubarb leaves are extremely poisonous, one of the most deadly things in the average home garden. ---
**Author:** ![Cillasi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@Cillasi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cillasi)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2003, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-rhubarb/150413/10 "2003-01-23T11:06:20Z")
Rhubarb pie! Yum yum! [http://www.rhubarbinfo.com/recipe-pie.html#TOC58](http://www.rhubarbinfo.com/recipe-pie.html#TOC58) ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2003, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-rhubarb/150413/11 "2003-01-23T12:06:11Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by istara \* > \*\*Rhubarb leaves are extremely poisonous, one of the most deadly things in the average home garden. \*\* Is this true then? I grew up in a small village and spent a lot of time hiking and biking around the country roads, alongside which you often found rhubarb growing (usually close to rhubarb fields, so we always assumed it had spread outside the field), which was great if you were hungry or thirsty (you can suck juices out of the stalks). I was warned against eating the leaves since they were lethally poisonous, but as I grew older and wiser I figured it was just a legend. Are you telling me it’s not? ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2003, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-rhubarb/150413/12 "2003-01-23T12:18:10Z")
Rhubarb and apple pie is a gift from the gods. And welcome to the boards, **Bronze**. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![MC\_Master\_of\_Ceremonies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/bb73d2/32.png) [@MC\_Master\_of\_Ceremonies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MC_Master_of_Ceremonies)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2003, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-rhubarb/150413/13 "2003-01-23T12:22:11Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Priceguy \* > \*\*Is this true then? I grew up in a small village and spent a lot of time hiking and biking around the country roads, alongside which you often found rhubarb growing (usually close to rhubarb fields, so we always assumed it had spread outside the field), which was great if you were hungry or thirsty (you can suck juices out of the stalks). I was warned against eating the leaves since they were lethally poisonous, but as I grew older and wiser I figured it was just a legend. Are you telling me it’s not? \*\* Thank god for rhubarbinfo!!! It appears that eating large quantities of uncooked rhubarb leafs can lead to posioning. [http://www.rhubarbinfo.com/rhubarb-poison.html](http://www.rhubarbinfo.com/rhubarb-poison.html) ---
**Author:** ![Agback](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/977dab/32.png) [@Agback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agback)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2003, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-rhubarb/150413/14 "2003-01-23T12:44:38Z")
G’day Rhubarb leaves contain oxalic acid in sufficient quantity that it is unwise to eat them in quantity–raw or cooked. And I am not allowed to eat rhubarb at all any more because I tend to form calcium oxalate kidney stones. Rhubarb is definitely not a fruit: the part you eat has no seeds and doesn’t develop from a flower. Rhubarb is a vegetable, but then ‘vegetable’ is a broad category: in the only technical sense it includes fruit, herbs, and spices. Regards, Agback ---
**Author:** ![Popup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/94ad74/32.png) [@Popup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Popup)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2003, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-rhubarb/150413/15 "2003-01-23T12:44:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by istara \* > \*\*Rhubarb leaves are extremely poisonous, one of the most deadly things in the average home garden. \*\* _Extremely_ poisonous might be an exageration, but they are indeed unhealthy. Quoting from [rhubarbinfo.com](http://www.rhubarbinfo.com/rhubarb-poison.html): > [@](#): > > Rhubarb contains oxalate, which have been reported to cause poisoning when large quantities of raw or cooked leaves are ingested. > \ > From an MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet) for Oxalic acid, LD50 (LD50 is the Median Lethal Dose, which is the dose of a drug or chemical predicted to produce a lethal effect in 50 percent of the subjects to whom the dose is given) in rats is 375 mg/kg. So for a person about 145 pounds (65.7 kg) that’s about 25 grams of pure oxalic acid required to cause death. Rhubarb leaves are probably around 0.5% oxalic acid, so that you would need to eat quite a large serving of leaves, like 5 kg (11 lbs), to get that 24 grams of oxalic acid. I believe that potato greens are more poisonous than that… ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2003, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-rhubarb/150413/16 "2003-01-23T12:47:31Z")
Having grown up seeing wild rhubarb in Michigan, I can’t imagine why anyone would think it was a fruit. It’s a plant with big leaves, and the part you eat is the stem or stalk of the leaf. That says “vegetable” to me. _Maybe_ herb. But certainly not fruit. ---
**Author:** ![caveman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/caveman/32/7242_2.png) [@caveman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/caveman)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2003, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-rhubarb/150413/17 "2003-01-23T14:50:24Z")
So, you’re saying I should take that rhubarb salad off the menu, then? The one with the hemlock vinagarette? But noone ever comes back to complain about it… ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2003, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-rhubarb/150413/18 "2003-01-23T14:51:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Broomstick \* > Having grown up seeing wild rhubarb in Michigan, I can’t imagine why anyone would think it was a fruit. It’s a plant with big leaves, and the part you eat is the stem or stalk of the leaf. I suspect those who think it’s fruit are people who’ve never seen rhubarb growing and only think of it in association with pies and jams. (I had some growing in our backyard garden as a child, and learned quickly to distinguish between the rhubarb and a similar looking weed without red on the stalks that we called “skunk cabbage”, due to its foul odor.) ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2003, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-rhubarb/150413/19 "2003-01-23T15:04:42Z")
Rhubarb is super interesting because the leaves and the roots are both poisonous, but the stalk isn’t. Freaky-deaky. ---
**Author:** ![Chanticleer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/65b543/32.png) [@Chanticleer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chanticleer)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2003, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-rhubarb/150413/20 "2003-01-23T15:56:09Z")
The part of the rhubarb that you eat is the stalk. It looks much like a celery stalk but had a definite red tinge . In the midwest it grows like a weed and requires no special care. You can cut it down and mow it over and it will come back every year. To get rid of it you have to dig the roots out. Raw, it is very sour and nasty. Some like it cooked with lots, and I mean lots, of sugar added. I remember as a child, it seemed like all the “old folks” at the time had some rhubarb growing somewhere. If you don’t like to eat it, I guess some used it as a decorative plant , but it by itself isn’t very pretty. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-rhubarb/150413.md?page=2)