Synonyms: Sedum rhodanthum Other names: rosecrown, red orpine Nomenclature: rhodantha = red (fruits) Nativity / Invasiveness: Montana native plant
Edible plant
No medicinal data
Description
General: succulent, hairless perennial with thick, fleshy rootstocks, usually without sterile shoots or rosette leaves, the stems generally clustered, erect, 5-30 cm tall.
Leaves: alternate, very numerous, several times as long as the internodes, narrowly oblong-lanceolate to elliptic-oblanceolate, strongly flattened but fleshy, 10-30 mm long, 2.5-5 mm broad, entire, rarely lightly toothed, persistent.
Flowers: closely crowded in a tight, terminal, often headlike cluster, with bracts at bases. Sepals joined only at base, narrowly lanceolate, 4-6 mm long, commonly pinkish- or purplish-tinged. The 5 petals distinct, nearly erect, narrowly oblong- lanceolate, pointed, 8-10 mm long, from greenish with only a pinkish tinge to deep pink or rarely nearly white. Stamens considerably shorter than the corolla. Anthers purple.
July-August.
Fruits: clusters of 5 erect, distinct carpels, reddish, the styles short and bluntly tapered. Seeds with a very loose coat, ellipse-shaped, about 3 mm long.
Distribution
Usually in wet places or springy ground, often along streams or at the edge of marshes, less commonly in the shelter of boulders where snow lies late in the season, montane to above timber line, in w. and s.c. parts of MT. Also from UT to CO and AZ.
Edible Uses
The leaves of rosecrown are edible, raw or cooked as a potherb. They can be chopped finely and added to salads. The leaves are best used when they are young.
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Edible plant
No medicinal data
