Re: 4-herb recipe vs. 8-herb recipe

Common names can be confusing, Indian rhubarb is not rhubarb/rheum, it is a saxifrage. Unless I am missing something and there is a mysterious rhubarb unlisted in my sources, I tried all kinds of avenues of research and have not found a North American true rhubarb. There are some varieties including Turkey rhubarb, Chinese (both considered equal in medicine) and garden rhubarb (not very medicinal), and one sometimes called Indian Rhubarb which comes from India. They originated from the same strain, though the garden variety, cultivated for it's stems rather than the medicinal roots, may have come to the states by way of Russia.
Now, since the plant was brought to North America in the early 1800s, it may have gone feral. There are many 'wild' rhubarbs and asparagus patches in places I have lived with a history of farming. But that still means, for the purpose of Essian research, that they are foreign species which have become recently naturalized on this continent.

For Indian Rhubarb look up the pages on Natural Medicinal Herbs or Calflora.
For true rhubarb try Botanical.com, the Modern Herbal website.