Rhodiola coccinea - Red Roseroot

Red Roseroot is a perennial herb with the main root 10-30 cm or longer, emerging into a thick basal stem, with persistent old flowering stems. Basal stem leaves are brown, scalelike, round-triangular, about 5 x 6-8 mm. Flowering stems are erect or curved, 1-5 cm long, up to 2 mm thick. Stem leaves are alternate, stalkless, linear-lanceshaped to lanceshaped, 5-7 x 1-1.5 mm, margin entire, tip somewhat blunt to pointed or tapering to long tapering. Flowers are borne in few flowered, compact corymbs, 0.8-1 cm in diameter. Flowers are unisexual, (4 or)5-merous, longer than flower-stalk. Sepals are red, oblong or lanceshaped to triangular-oblong, 1.5-4 mm, tip blunt or pointed to tapering. Petals are red or yellow, oblong-ovate to somewhat obovate or lanceshaped to broadly oblong, at tip constricted, 1.5-4 mm, tip blunt to almost so. Stamens are 8-10, 3-4 mm. Fruits are red when mature, ovoid to oblong-ovoid, apical beak reflexed, very short. Red Roseroot is found in Central Asia to SW Siberia and W & Central China, including the Himalayas, at altitudes of 2200-5300 m. Flowering: June-July.