Rhodiola is a genus of perennial, sedum-like succulents (stonecrops) in the Crassulaceae family, native to cold high-altitude and subarctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Growing them is difficult outside those cool climates, so they need cold winters, good drainage and bright, open sites.
Family
Crassulaceae (Stonecrop family)
Grows as
Perennial, Succulent
Light
Full sun, Part shade
Water
Water moderately during the growing season and let the soil dry out between waterings; avoid waterlogging.
Soil
Free-draining, gritty or rocky mix with some organic matter.
Temperature
Cool conditions suited to alpine and subarctic climates; hardy to well below freezing, but heat and humid summers are hard on them.
How easy
Moderate
About
Rhodiola is a genus of perennial plants in the family Crassulaceae that resemble Sedum and other members of the family. Like sedums, Rhodiola species are often called stonecrops. Some authors merge Rhodiola into Sedum.
Rhodiola species grow in high-altitude and other cold regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Plants of the World Online gives the number of accepted species as 74, the Angiosperm Phylogeny Website gives it as 90, and the Flora of China gives it as about 90, with 55 in China and 16 endemic there. Flora of North America lists only three species in the United States and Canada.
Where it grows
Dioecy, having separate male and female flowers, has evolved at least three times in the genus, and reversals to a hermaphrodite condition have also occurred, which is a rare occurrence in flowering plants. It has been suggested that dioecy in the genus may correlate with abiotic pollination in the cold environment.
Uses
Rhodiola extracts have been used historically in medicine throughout Europe. A number of species are grown as ornamentals, but growing them is difficult outside their native subarctic and alpine climates.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Rhodiola by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.