Zhigang Li's Image

Zhigang Li (China) finally finds flowering noble rhubarb in the mountains.

It took years of searching before Zhigang came across these impressive towering, flowering stems of noble rhubarb. The size of these towers indicates that these individuals could be more than 30 years old.

Noble rhubarb grows in the Himalayas and is usually found at 4,000 metres or more above sea level. Up here in the most inhospitable of environments, conditions are tough, with few nutrients, freezing temperatures and high levels of UV light.

While most plants respond to extreme mountain conditions by staying small and low, noble rhubarb has a main stem that can grow up to one and a half metres tall. It grows slowly, taking 15 to 45 years to build up enough nutrients to produce flowers, which it does once, then dies.