As with the peach, the leaves of rhubarb are extremely poisonous, but erotic red rhubarb stalks have been used as a love stimulant in tonics since the Chinese first cultivated the plant in 2700 B.C. In America "pieplant" is the basis for rhubarb pies (often combined with strawberries) and is stewed with sugar as a spring tonic said to rejuvenate men and women alike. Italian lovers mix rhubarb in wine with cinnamon, ginger and vanilla for a stimulating aphrodisiac tonic. The word rhubarb comes from the Latin rhabarbarum, "root of the barbarians," because the Romans believed people who ate it to be barbaric in nature. In England "rhubarb" has been used as a synonym for the penis, as in expressions like "How's your rhubarb comin' up, mate?"