The Ingenious Design of the Himalayan Rhubarb

If you were hiking in the Himalayas (lucky you) and saw this six-foot-tall structure far ahead of you among the rocks, you might think it was a termite hill, or maybe a monument of some kind. Surely a plant can't survive this altitude! But this is indeed a plant. The noble rhubarb (Rheum nobile) inhabits elevations from 3,500 to 4,800 meters (11k to 16K feet), where few other plants thrive. It has evolved to withstand the harsh sunlight and cold temperatures of the Himalayan mountainsides. The greener leaves on its lower part are edible, and a fresh stalk can provide you with a drink on your hike. Its adaptations for the conditions are quite clever.

The upper leaves grow in a mound around the stem and turn translucent, letting filtered sunlight in while insulating the stem and reproductive organs from the cold. They fall off when it is time to let the seeds fly at the end of the plant's life cycle. Everything about the noble rhubarb is adapted to the harsh environment, which you can read about at Kuriositas.

(Image credit: Dieter Albrecht)


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