King’s Crown, Roseroot Rhodiola Rosea
The tiny deep red-purple flowers of the King’s Crown are crowded into dense roundish heads at the ends of unbranched stems 4-12 in. high. They bloom in midsummer and are found only on alpine peaks at 9000-14000 ft. The plant is used in Greenland as a salad, and the leaves in poultices for headache. The root has a pleasant rose-like odor, which gives rise to the name Roseroot, sometimes used for this species.