home

Rhodiola rosea - King's Crown

Phylum: Magnoliophyta - Class: Equisetopsida - Order: Saxifragales - Family: Crassulaceae

Rhodiola rosea - King's Crown

Above: King's Crown flowering close to the top of the Alpine Ridge Trail in Rocky Mountain National Park

This is a magnificent plant of rocky mountain ridges in the alpine and subalpine zones of the western mountains of North America. It is very similar to Queen's Crown Rhodiola rhodantha but the latter has much pinker flowers than King's Crown with its darker burnt-red blooms.

Rhodiola rosea. King's Crown - closeup of flowers

This lovely wildflower grows to a height of around 30cm and forms dense colonies of plants in moist hollows or on slopes where it receives plenty of moisture.

King's Crown flowers in summer from July onwards.

The specimens on this page were photograhed in early August in the Rocky Mountain National Park.

This plant is very close related to Roseroot (Sedum rosea), a plant with greenish-yellow flowers which grows on high ground in parts of north and west UK. It is well known from Snowdonia in Wales, but is locally common in mountains and on sea cliffs in Ireland, Sotland and in the north of England.

© 1995 - 2024 First Nature: a not-for-profit volunteer-run resource

Please help to keep this free resource online...

Terms of use - Privacy policy - Disable cookies - Links policy