INDIAN-RHUBARB
UMBRELLA PLANT
Darmera peltata
(Formerly: Peltophyllum peltatum)
Saxifrage Family [Saxifragaceae] 
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Saxifrage Family [Saxifragaceae]
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status
flower
flower
flower
morph
petals
type
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stem
| 28th April 2018, Bramshott, banks of River Wye, Hampshire | Photo: © Vivian Offord |
| The sepals, 5 each flower, are short and rounded - splayed out beneath each flower in such a drab colour as to be almost un-noticeable - grey-green to brownish. |
| 28th April 2018, Bramshott, banks of River Wye, Hampshire | Photo: © Vivian Offord |
| Similar to Rhubarb the leaves grow large and umbrella-like, hence this is also called Umbrella Plant |
| 26th April 2019, Hampden Park, Eastbourne. | Photo: © Dennis Chanter |
| Growing in a dampish place amongst Hemlock Water-Dropwort, a poisonous water-loving plant. These are young specimen with the plant not fully grown (1 to 1.5m for the flowering stem and up to 1m for the leaves which are not yet present but will grow from 5 to 40cm across) |
| 28th April 2019, Hampden Park, Eastbourne. | Photo: © Dennis Chanter |
| 28th April 2019, Hampden Park, Eastbourne. | Photo: © Dennis Chanter |
| 28th April 2019, Hampden Park, Eastbourne. | Photo: © Dennis Chanter |
| The flowers will eventually open wide with petals more or less planar. The flowers are on longish petioles (stalks) and here form a hemisphere at the top of a stout hairy stem which is hairless (at least at the moment). Around the top as-yet unopened flowers are the 5 brownish sepals half cupping the expanding flowers whilst the sepals have splayed open on one of the flowers near the bottom left of the inflorescence. |
| 28th April 2018, Bramshott, banks of River Wye, Hampshire | Photo: © Vivian Offord |
| In their half-opened state the look like miniature cracked egg shells. Brown sepals behind them. |
| 28th April 2019, Hampden Park, Eastbourne. | Photo: © Dennis Chanter |
| The stems are densely hairy. This specimen looks like one of those pre-historic trees in miniature. |
| 28th April 2019, Hampden Park, Eastbourne. | Photo: © Dennis Chanter |
| The sepals, 5 each flower, are short and rounded - splayed out beneath each flower in such a drab colour as to be almost un-noticeable - grey-green to brownish. The petals also number 5 and are pale-pink to whitish. Surrounding the 2 central stigma are 10 filaments with small pink anthers. When fully open the flowers will be 10-15mm across. |
| 28th April 2019, Hampden Park, Eastbourne. | Photo: © Dennis Chanter |
| The 10 pinkish stamens neatly arranged in as circle surrounding the pale pink ovary, sitting on top of which are the 2 central styles with a stigma each on top looking like two lips reaching out for a kiss. |
| 28th April 2019, Hampden Park, Eastbourne. | Photo: © Dennis Chanter |
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When the petals fully open, the stamens splay out at a wider angle.
The ovary on the top right flower is yellowish-orange on these specimens, topped by the two red styles and stigmas. |
| 28th April 2019, Hampden Park, Eastbourne. | Photo: © Dennis Chanter |
| The filaments supporting the pink (when un-opened) anthers are lilac in colour and taper towards the anther. |
| 28th April 2019, Hampden Park, Eastbourne. | Photo: © Dennis Chanter |
| 21st May 2019, Hampden Park, Eastbourne. | Photo: © Dennis Chanter |
| Going to seed (in the backdrop). Only after flowering do the large rhubarb-like leaves start growing. |
| 21st May 2019, Hampden Park, Eastbourne. | Photo: © Dennis Chanter |
| A plethora of flowers going to seed. |
| 27th May 2019, Hampden Park, Eastbourne. | Photo: © Dennis Chanter |
| The leaves are circular in outline, but deeply and triply toothed. |
| 11th May 2019, Hampden Park, Eastbourne. | Photo: © Dennis Chanter |
| 11th May 2019, Hampden Park, Eastbourne. | Photo: © Dennis Chanter |
| The leaves are deeply cut to about halfway and doubly toothed. |
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| 20th Sept 2019, a garden, Durham. | Photo: © RWD |
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These specimens from a bit later on in the year, late September, when the flowers have disappeared, the leaves sprung up and the fruit have withered turning brown.
The leaves are similar to those of Chilean Giant-Rhubarb - except on Indian Rhubarb they are smaller (well, on this specimen they are at this particular time in the yearly cycle). This patch is very near to a small pond, if not actually in it in places. |
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| 20th Sept 2019, a garden, Durham. | Photo: © RWD |
| Overall, the leaves are round, but they have deeply cut lobes (cut to maybe half-way), each lobe being double-toothed with triangular teeth. |
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| 20th Sept 2019, a garden, Durham. | Photo: © RWD |
| The leaves are red-fringed presumably because it is that time of year(?) |
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| 20th Sept 2019, a garden, Durham. | Photo: © RWD |
| The doubly toothed leaves with lobes too. |
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| 20th Sept 2019, a garden, Durham. | Photo: © RWD |
| The main stem, hidden under the canopy of large leaves. They are similar to the main stems of Chilean Giant-Rhubarb except on Indian Rhubarb the short teeth are angled upwards. |
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| 20th Sept 2019, a garden, Durham. | Photo: © RWD |
| The seeds are now hidden beneath the large tall leaves which have grown. These empty seed pods have been removed from beneath the canopy so that your Author could take better photos of them; all of the photos taken beneath the canopy of leaves failed to yield respectable photos. You can see the brown remnants of the sepals poking out behind them. |
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| 20th Sept 2019, a garden, Durham. | Photo: © RWD |
| A single seed-pod, with nothing left inside it apart from a spider spinning a web of lies just like Boris! |
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Not to be semantically confused with : Uniquely identifiable characteristics Distinguishing Feature : The leaves, absent when flowering, can grow as large as Rhubarb leaves after flowering, hence the common name. No relation to : Brazilian Giant-Rhubarb (Gunnera manicata) or Chilean Giant-Rhubarb (Gunnera tinctoria) or [plants with similar names and that look a little like Rhubarb, but which belong to the Giant-Rhubarb Family (Gunneraceae)]. Nor with Rhubarb (Rheum × rhabarbarum) [another unrelated plant with similar name] It is an introduced and naturalised neophyte which grows in damp places, here on a river bank, usually planted or cast aside, but can naturalise. From its common name your Author would guess it is a native of India.
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 Darmera
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peltata
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⇐ Global Aspect ⇒ |
Saxifragaceae
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 Darmera (Indian-Rhubarb) |
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Saxifrage Family [Saxifragaceae]
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BSBI maps