Rhodiola kirilowii (Regel) Maxim.

Plant 20-50 cm. Taproot and short rhizome thickened, tuber-like. Stem unbranched, densely leafy. Leaves sessile, linear-lanceolate, sparsely toothed. Inflorescence terminal, hemispherical, of densely crowded small yellow flowers. Specimens with staminate flowers are much more ornamental than specimens with pistillate flowers. V - early spring to early autumn in St. Petersburg April-September. Fl - May. Fr - June-July. P - by seed and division of the stout, underground rootstock. Does well in full sun and in partial shade. Well suited to the rock garden. Z 4 (3).

Roots erect, thick. Caudex 1.5-2.5 cm in diam. Caudex leaves scalelike, lanceolate, ovate, or triangular. Flowering stems few, (10-)15-60(-90) cm × 4-6 mm, densely leafy. Stem leaves alternate or subverticillate, sessile, linear to linear-lanceolate, (1.5-)4-6 × 0.2-1.5 cm, margin sparsely serrulate, sometimes entire, rarely shallowly serrate. Flowers unisexual, sometimes bixexual, male ones unequally 4- or 5-merous. Sepals linear, oblong, or triangular, 1.5-3 mm, apex acute to acuminate. Petals green, greenish yellow, or red, linear-lanceolate, oblanceolate, oblong-lanceolate, broadly oblong, or obovate, 3-4 × ca. 0.8 mm. Stamens 8 or 10, 2-2.5(-5) mm, equaling or slightly longer than petals; filaments and anthers yellow. Nectar scales oblong, spatulate-subquadrangular, subquadrangular, or ovate, apex obtuse to emarginate. Carpels erect. Follicles lanceolate, 7-8 mm, apical beak recurved, short. Seeds oblong-lanceolate, ca. 1.5 mm. Fl. May-Sep.

Central Asia (Narynskiy Range, Terskeiy Alatau, Alayskiy Range), northern China and Tibet. On rocky slopes, in cracks, on gravelly soil.

Gansu, Hebei, Qinghai, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Sichuan, Xinjiang, Xizang, Yunnan [Kazakhstan, Myanmar].

Forest margins, grassy slopes, often in partial shade; 2000-5600 m.

Sedum kirilowii Regel in Regel & Tiling, Fl. Ajan. 92. in adnot, no. 114. 1858; Rhodiola kirilowii var. latifolia S. H. Fu; R. linearifolia Borissova; R. longicaulis (Praeger) S. H. Fu; R. macrolepis (Franchet) S. H. Fu; R. robusta (Praeger) S. H. Fu; Sedum kirilowii var. altum Fröderström; S. kirilowii var. linifolium Regel & Schmalhausen; S. kirilowii var. rubrum Praeger; S. longicaule Praeger; S. macrolepis Franchet; S. robustum Praeger.