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Glite Dictionary
Rheum rhaponticum

Rheum rhaponticum

9.6
A plant with tart edible stems that people cook and eat in pies
  • noun
  • Specialized
translation icon : rhubarb de jardín
  • The pie was filled with the tart stalks of Rheum rhaponticum fresh from the garden.

Examples

  • Many preserves are made using Rheum rhaponticum harvested in late spring.

  • Many recipes call for Rheum rhaponticum as a key ingredient.

  • Botanists have long debated the origins of cultivated Rheum rhaponticum varieties.

  • I made a delicious pie using Rheum rhaponticum.

  • The pie was filled with the tart stalks of Rheum rhaponticum fresh from the garden.

  • I made a delicious pie using Rheum rhaponticum from my backyard.

  • Many preserves are made using Rheum rhaponticum harvested in late spring.

Synonyms

rhubarb
vsRheum rhaponticum
14 3.5

Thick sour stalks usually cooked and sweetened for pies

is about the cultivated species rather than just the edible stalks
garden rhubarb
vsRheum rhaponticum
2.5

A plant with thick red or green stalks that taste tart and are cooked in pies

is a specific cultivated species not merely the general plant type
rhubarb plant
vsRheum rhaponticum
3.2

A garden plant that grows back every year with thick stalks you cook and eat but poisonous leaves

focuses on the cultivated species for edible stems without warning about leaves
pie plant
vsRheum rhaponticum
  • Archaic
6.1

A plant with thick stems you can eat, often used in pies

refers to a particular cultivated species rather than a general name

Surface Forms

Rheum rhaponticum singular
Rheum rhaponticums plural

Morphology

Rheum + rhaponticum

The phrase is a Latin binomial: 'Rheum' is the plant genus (rhubarb), so a learner who knows that constituent can infer this refers to a type of Rheum. However, the specific epithet 'rhaponticum' is a specialised, non-compositional label with no obvious everyday meaning to a B1 learner, so the full sense (edible stems used in cooking) is not directly derivable.

Etymology

Rheum rhaponticum comes from old words: Rheum, an old name for 'rhubarb', and rhaponticum, from a place or plant called 'Rhapontica'. So it was the name for a kind of rhubarb grown for its tart 'edible stems', which is why it means the rhubarb used in pies and preserves.