Uigur Rhodiola traders weigh a sack of freshly harvested Rhodiola root. This scene is reproduced all over the world with thousands of different plant. Traders buy from harvesters after a hard day's work in the fields.

Rhodiola rosea is one of a handful of plants which fit the criteria of adaptogens, those agents which promote non-specific resistance to a wide range of adverse influences of all kinds, including harmful factors that are physical, biological and chemical. As an adaptogen, Rhodiola rosea helps to re-establish normal, healthy function under conditions of stress which may range from mild to severe.