Rhodiola

Rhodiola is a genus of perennial plants in the stonecrop family, resembling Sedum, and its species are often called stonecrops. They grow in high-altitude and other cold regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Plants of the World Online counts 74 accepted species, the Angiosperm Phylogeny Website 90 and the Flora of China about 90, with 55 in China. The genus has a stout rhizome from whose axils the flowering stems rise, a basal rosette of leaves, and the only unisexual flowers in the family. The name combines the Greek rhodon, rose, for the rose-like smell of the roots, with a Latin diminutive. Extracts have been used historically in medicine across Europe, and in traditional Chinese medicine extracts of Rhodiola plants are used for fatigue and altitude sickness. The page does not say which part is used. This entry is the genus, not one species.