Łódź, Botanical Garden

It is native to China and Tibet. Edible plant - leaf stem raw or cooked, the stem is superior in flavour to the common rhubarb and quite tender, an acid flavour, it is sometimes used as a cooked fruit substitute. Herbal plant - it has a long and proven history of herbal usage, its main effect being a positive and balancing effect upon the whole digestive system, it is one of the most widely used herbs in Chinese medicine; roots are anticholesterolemic, antiseptic, antispasmodic, antitumor, aperient, astringent, cholagogue, demulcent, diuretic, laxative, purgative, stomachic and tonic; when taken in small doses, it acts as an astringent tonic to the digestive system, whilst larger doses act as a mild laxative; roots are taken internally in the treatment of chronic constipation, diarrhoea, liver and gall bladder complaints, haemorrhoids, menstrual problems and skin eruptions due to an accumulation of toxins.