Long-plumed Purple Avens

(Geum triflorum)

 

   

 

 

Color Photograph: Paul Jackson, Cedar Creek Natural History Area, LTER, U.S. Dept. Energy and National Science Foundation.

Line Drawing: Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913. An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States and Canada, Second Edition.

 

Long-plumed Purple Avens (Geum triflorum Pursh)

Identification: Flowers globular, red, sepals fused, not opening completely, and with 5 elongate, pointed sepal lobes. Flowers and flower stems hairy. Fruiting head with extremely long, feathery hairs projecting upward. Flowers usually in groups of 3 at the end of branches. Leaves compound with many pairs of opposite leaflets and an apical leaflet. Apical leaflet not especially larger than the lateral leaflets. Leaflets very irregularly lobed, shaped, and toothed. Plant 6 to 16 inches in height.

Distribution: Across Canada from Newfoundland to British Columbia. In the east, local around the Great Lakes, Illinois and Iowa. Also occurs in most of the western United States.

Habitat: Long-plumed Purple Avens is found in rocky or dry soils.

Flowering period: April to June.

Similar Species: The red, globular flowers, feathery fruiting hairs, and the irregular, elongate compound leaves are distinctive features of this species.

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