[3] It grows naturally in wild Arctic regions of Europe (including Britain), Asia, and North America ( N.B., Nfld.

[5][6][7] The United States Food and Drug Administration has issued several warnings to manufacturers of R. rosea dietary supplements for making false health claims about its safety and efficacy.

Although rosavin, rosarin, rosin, and salidroside (and sometimes p-tyrosol, rhodioniside, rhodiolin, and rosiridin) are among suspected active ingredients of R. rosea, these compounds are mostly polyphenols.

[5][6][7] The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued warning letters to manufacturers of R. rosea dietary supplement products unapproved as new drugs, adulterated, misbranded and in federal violation for not having proof of safety or efficacy for the advertised conditions of alleviating Raynaud syndrome, altitude sickness, depression or cancer.

[8][9][10] A 2012 report by the European Medicines Agency on literature concerning the dried extract of R. rosea stated that "The published clinical trials exhibit considerable deficiencies in their quality.

[21] Rhodiola rosea has not been assessed on the IUCN red list,[22] but is listed on the CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) Appendix II which "includes species not necessarily threatened with extinction, but in which trade must be controlled in order to avoid utilization incompatible with their survival.".