Geum aleppicum Jacq.

Yellow avens, common avens

Similar species

	You are here Geum aleppicum	Geum macrophyllum	Geum canadense
Common Name	yellow avens	largeleaf avens	white avens
Plant	Perennials, with stout, hairy stems, 12–39″ (30–100 cm) tall.	Perennials, with stout, hairy stems, 12–39″ (30–100 cm) tall.	1½–2½′ (45–76 cm) tall. Lower stems have coarse hairs and a brownish color, becoming softer-haired and lighter in color toward the top.
Leaves	Alternate, compound. Basal leaves are compound, while more upper leaves are variously shaped, roughly triangular or egg-shaped. Leaves are up to 4½″ (11 cm) × 3½″ (8.9 cm), coarsely toothed, and hairy. Stipules, or tiny leaflets, are often visible at leaf axils.	Simple or compound, usually alternate, and toothed. Basal leaves are on long stalks. The terminal leaf is by far the largest, and it is heart or kidney-shaped, 2–4½″ (5–11 cm) in size. Stem leaves are few, usually attached directly to the stem (sessile), and composed of three parts. Pairs of “mini-leaves” called stipules appear at leaf axils, and these are larger than in other avens.	Lobed, looking a bit like a rounded maple leaf, or sometimes split into three separate leaflets like strawberry leaves. The basal leaves are trifoliate. They have long stems (petioles), and they are toothed, with sharp or rounded teeth.
Flowers	In groups of 1-5 at the end of branching stems. Flowers are ½–1″ (1.3–2.5 cm) around, with 5 yellow petals that are round to oval, and may have a dull point or notch at the tip. Between the petals are five sharp-tipped sepals in the shape of a star, though these fold back as the flower ages. The sepals are equal to or shorter than the petals in length. Many yellow-tipped stamens surround a greenish center of many carpels. Flowers appear from May-July.	Flowers are ¼–½″ (6.3–12 mm) around, yellow, with sepals interspersed between petals in a starlike shape. Petals may have a dull point or notch at the tips. The sepals are shorter than the petals, and often curled back against the stem. There are many yellow-tipped stamens, and a greenish center of carpels. Flowers appear from May to early August.	White, with five rather sparse-looking, rounded petals appearing between a five-pointed green star of sepals. The sepals are shorter than the petals.
Fruit	A velcro-like ball of tiny hooks, 1/16–⅛″ (2.5–5 mm).	A velcro-like ball of tiny hooks, 1/16–⅛″ (2.5–5 mm), reddish in color.	Burlike in appearance, like a little ball of velcro, though if you take a close look, the tips of the achenes, though bent, are not hooked to hitch a ride the way burs are. The fruits are the most easily noticed features of this plant, perched atop long stems.
Range/ Zones
Habitats	Forests, woodlands, swamps, fields, roadsides, trail edges, and stream banks. Prefers moist soil, such as meadows, open woods, thickets, and swamps.	Otream banks, at edges of woods, and in moist meadows and thickets.	Moist woods and thickets

	Geum laciniatum
Common Name	rough avens
Plant	1½–2½′ (45–76 cm) tall. Stems are light green and hairy, with hairs spreading outward.
Leaves	Lower leaves are in groups of 3-5, while upper leaves have 1-3. Leaflets are simple (not further lobed), lanceolate or ovate, up to 3″ (7.6 cm) × 2½″ (6.3 cm). The odd leaflet in the center of the group is the largest. Leaf shape is highly variable. At the base where leaflets connect to the main stem are leafy stipules, like miniature leaflets.
Flowers	White or cream-colored, oval to egg-shaped, about ½″ (1.3 cm) around, in groups of 1-3, on leafy racemes. There are five rounded petals, and between them, five sharp-tipped sepals that together resemble a star. The sepals are longer than the petals. A large cluster of green carpels, looking a little like a writhing mass of tiny green inchworms, make up the center of the flower, with some yellowish anthers. Flowers appear from April to May.
Fruit	Flowers are replaced with green velcro-like balls of achenes about ¾″ (1.9 cm) in diameter.
Range/ Zones

Geum aleppicum description by Thomas H. Kent, not updated.

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