Rewas, or rêwas, is associated with Rheum ribes, a perennial mountain plant. Botanical records and Kurdish field interviews explain its spring food uses, the social life of its stalks and concerns about how wild plants are gathered.
The plant behind the name
Kew accepts Rheum ribes in the knotweed family, Polygonaceae, and gives its native range from the eastern Mediterranean to Pakistan. Its Flora of Iraq account describes a stout perennial with large, puckered leaves and a widely branching flower cluster. It records stony mountain habitats and flowering in May and June. The Kurdish name RAIWAS is linked to botanical specimens from Pira Magrun. [1] These records connect a food name with a particular species and documented localities, while showing that the plant’s range extends beyond one country or community.
Stalks as a shared spring snack
Andrea Pieroni, Hiwa M. Ahmed and Hawre Zahir’s Hawraman field study interviewed 25 older informants and recorded 34 plant and fungal taxa used as spring foods. Their account identifies young Rheum ribes stems as an especially frequently mentioned ingredient. Gatherers brought them from mountains into villages; the outer layer was removed and the juicy inner stem eaten raw, sometimes with salt. Offering stalks to guests and eating them while talking gave the plant a social role, beyond its flavour. The researchers also observed sales in Hawraman and Sulaymaniyah markets. [2] This evidence grounds the account in observed preparation and hospitality, rather than a claim that every household follows one recipe or that gathering always happens in a single month.
Shared knowledge does not mean identical habits
Naji Sulaiman and colleagues conducted 43 interviews in western Iran during spring 2021 and 2022, comparing Hawramani and Mukriyani Kurdish communities. They collected plant specimens and documented local names and preparations. Their study found differences between those communities, alongside strong similarities between Hawramani knowledge on the Iranian and Iraqi sides of the border. Rheum ribes was particularly prominent in the Hawramani accounts, while other plants ranked differently among Mukriyani participants. [3] The comparison shows how family transmission, local landscapes and cultural ties can shape spring food habits across political boundaries. It should be read as a study of particular communities, not a survey of all Kurds.
Gathering, income and the next spring
Bakr Suleiman’s April 2026 report from Bradost for Kurdistan24 follows seasonal plant collecting in mountain terrain. Gatherer Kamal Rasul describes long days beginning early and continuing into evening. The report includes rewas among sought-after plants and links the harvest to household income. Environmental campaigner Jaber Bradosti criticises uprooting and urges gatherers to leave roots alive. [4] His warning concerns collecting practices; it is not a measured population census or proof of a particular extinction rate. The practical question is how a valued seasonal food can remain available as demand and commercial gathering continue.
Sources and further reading
- Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Plants of the World Online, Rheum ribes; Flora of Iraq description, habitat, flowering and Kurdish specimen name.
- Andrea Pieroni, Hiwa M. Ahmed and Hawre Zahir, “The spring has arrived,” Acta Societatis Botanicorum Poloniae 86/1 (2017), 3519; especially “Vegetables consumed raw,” p. 9.
- Naji Sulaiman and colleagues, “Cultural vs. State Borders: Plant Foraging by Hawraman and Mukriyan Kurds in Western Iran,” Plants 13/7 (2024), 1048; field methods and comparison.
- Bakr Suleiman, Kurdistan24, Bradost field report on spring wild-plant gathering and uprooting concerns, 18 April 2026; interviews with Kamal Rasul and Jaber Bradosti.