I've solved the mystery
By Judy Evans
@JudyEv (381739)
Rockingham, Australia
March 4, 2018 4:40pm CST
I posted a very similar photo recently of part of the flower of a plant. I didn’t know the name of it but I’ve been doing some research and I believe it is a Gunnera manicata, sometimes known as a giant ornamental rhubarb. I thought at the time that the leaves were a bit like rhubarb leaves.
The leaves can grow to 5 feet (1.5 metres) across and the plant 8 to 10 feet (2.4 to 3 metres) tall. The hairy leaves are thick and veined while the stems are prickly. It is classified as an herbaceous perennial. The photo is of part of the flowers which appear as spikes. Apparently it loves the shade and is happy in boggy areas or next to ponds as it likes having its feet wet.
So now we all know. Do you like rhubarb?
24 people like this
26 responses
@JudyEv (381739)
• Rockingham, Australia
5 Mar 18
@Fleura @GardenGerty The stalks of 'mine' don't really look like household rhubarb and with the prickles on them, I'd doubt you'd want to cook with them.
2 people like this
(You don't need to answer). 
@JohnRoberts (109841)
• Los Angeles, California
5 Mar 18
No I do not. My mother used to make rhubarb pie.
3 people like this
@owlwings (43897)
• Cambridge, England
5 Mar 18
This is not the common garden rhubarb (whose stems we eat) and nor is it related to it. The garden rhubarb comes originally from China and Russia whereas Gunnera manicata and Gunnera tinctoria come from Brazil and Chile, respectively.
I first met this truly gigantic plant in the churchyard of a tiny Cornish church hidden away next to a secret inlet in South Cornwall. Oddly enough, the same church (St. Just in Roseland) was also the scene of my first encounter with the bandoneon and the strange and complex tango music of Astor Piazzola, so there is a double South American connection!
There's a picture of a Gunnera plant growing in Dorset, England with 11 ft diameter leaves (so it claims) in this article in the Daily Mail:
Grown at Abbotsbury Subtropical Gardens in Dorset, the Gunnera Manicata leaf is big enough for a whole family to shelter under as garden curator Steve Griffith demonstrates here.
1 person likes this
@owlwings (43897)
• Cambridge, England
6 Mar 18
@JudyEv The bandoneon is the same family as the accordeons, of course, since it's a free reed instrument but the fingerng is completely different - both sides are fully chromatic melody keyboards - and the tone is much sweeter and more flexible than most free reed instruments (except, perhaps, the mouth organ or harmonica).
One of my favourite Bach pieces played beautifully by Richard Galliano here shows some of the potential of the instrument: https://youtu.be/RLlhUkYh2Ms
?????????? ??? BWV565? Toccata and Fuga d-minor BWV565 ???·???????·??? J·S·Bach ??:????? ?????? Keiichiro Shozu (Classical Bandoneon player)/Bandoneon A Stud...
1 person likes this
@owlwings (43897)
• Cambridge, England
6 Mar 18
@JudyEv 'Bisonoric' was a new word for me, too, though I'm very familiar with the principle - just not the word for it! It seems that the bandoneon is (nearly) fully chromatic both on the push and pull scales, so one can play any note either on the push or the pull. It also has much larger bellows than most accordion/melodion type instruments so quite a long passage can be played in either bellows direction.
The 'skirt' (in the Japanese video) appears to be a cloth which some players use to cover the knees, help support the instrument and, perhaps, protect the clothing from wear.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (381739)
• Rockingham, Australia
6 Mar 18
@owlwings I did read up about it. As it is 'bisonoric' (new word for me) you would wonder how a toccata and fugue could be played on it without a cacophony of wrong notes. And there seems to be 'skirt' on the instrument which seems a bit unusual. Richard is certainly very skilled on his instrument.
@1hopefulman (45111)
• Canada
8 Mar 18
Glad you solved the pretty mystery! I know that a lot of people eat rhubarb but I also heard that it should not be eaten. Have you heard that?
1 person likes this
@1hopefulman (45111)
• Canada
12 Mar 18
@JudyEv I have read many health books and have come across that idea.
The interesting thing about reading is that one who reads come s across experts that say yes and experts that say no to the same question. 
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (381739)
• Rockingham, Australia
13 Mar 18
@1hopefulman That's so true - and they all speak with such authority. 
1 person likes this
@BelleStarr (61463)
• United States
5 Mar 18
I love rhubarb and mine at home will be pretty close to ready to pick when I get home.
1 person likes this
@BelleStarr (61463)
• United States
5 Mar 18
@JudyEv I do strawberry rhubarb and it is a delicious combination but in England I have seen apple and rhubarb.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (381739)
• Rockingham, Australia
6 Mar 18
@BelleStarr Someone else mentioned strawberry and rhubarb too. I guess it could be used to augment most fruits.
1 person likes this
@Fleura (34927)
• United Kingdom
5 Mar 18
That's a striking photo. It's interesting when you look at things in a new way. This plant is familiar from many large gardens where it is popular beside water as you say. And yes I like regular rhubarb. I never used to be all that keen but we had masses in our last garden so I found ways to cook it that I liked!
1 person likes this
@JamesHxstatic (29410)
• Eugene, Oregon
6 Mar 18
Rhubarb is something I have never liked to eat.
1 person likes this
@JamesHxstatic (29410)
• Eugene, Oregon
6 Mar 18
@JudyEv I know that here apple-rhubarb pie is much in demand. Still tastes like rhubarb to me though.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (381739)
• Rockingham, Australia
7 Mar 18
@JamesHxstatic Haha. It's pretty hard to disguise the taste. Like quince and apple. It still tastes like quince.
@DeborahDiane (40843)
• Laguna Woods, California
6 Mar 18
@JudyEv - Yes, I love rhubarb. My grandmother used to make rhubarb pie. I love this photo!
1 person likes this
@DeborahDiane (40843)
• Laguna Woods, California
13 Mar 18
@JudyEv - Yes, it does look like a pattern on a beautiful piece of silk!
1 person likes this
@teamfreak16 (43567)
• Denver, Colorado
10 Mar 18
I haven't had it very much, but I do like it.
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@teamfreak16 (43567)
• Denver, Colorado
12 Mar 18
@JudyEv - I've only had it in a pie. Not sure if anything else was added to it.
1 person likes this
@averygirl72 (38847)
• Philippines
8 Mar 18
Actually I'm not familiar with rhubarb. I know little about this. Maybe I need to do some research. Do you have it at home?
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (381739)
• Rockingham, Australia
12 Mar 18
Many people grow it around here or I could buy it but Vince doesn't like it and I don't like it enough to cook it for myself.
@chrisandmark (606)
• United Kingdom
6 Mar 18
I do like rhubarb but only with a ridiculous amount of sugar on it, negating the benefits of eating the fruit! That's an unusual plant you've posted
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (381739)
• Rockingham, Australia
12 Mar 18
I think it needs a lot of sugar too. It's very tart otherwise.
@LindaCPearson (2240)
• United States
6 Mar 18
I loved rhubarb as a kid but now it's too sour and troublesome for my digestive system. I would eat a big piece of strawberry rhubard pie if one happened by!
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (381739)
• Rockingham, Australia
6 Mar 18
Apple and rhubarb was all the go when I was young but it seems strawberry and rhubarb is also quite well-known in the US.
