Kingdom: Plantae

Phylum: Magnoliophyta -- flowering plants

Class: Magnoliopsida -- dicotyledons

Order: Rosales

Family: Rosaceae -- rose

Variety: Two varieties are commonly recognized, var. perincisum and var. macrophyllum. The Palouse phase is mostly var. perincisum.

Common Name: bur avens, longleaf avens, largeleaf avens

Species Code: GEMA4

Origin: Native to moist meadows, shrub thickets, riparian areas and moist forests over much of western North America from Alaska to California and New Mexico, extending eastward to the Atlantic Coast across Canada and the northern tier states of the US.

Rare: no

Form: forb, perennial, short-rhizomatous, 30-70 cm tall, hirsute to hispid, often pubescent and glandular above.

Duration: perennial

Longevity: medium lifespan

Habitat Type: forest, hawthorn thicket, riparian, wetland

Wetland Indicator Status: FACW-

Leaves: basal leaves long petiolate, odd-pinnate, up to 30 cm long; leaflets 9-23, irregular in size, triangular-ovate to cordate, up to 15 cm wide, the terminal one usually the largest; cauline leaves alternate, usually 2-5, sessile or nearly so, reduced, 3-lobed.

Mature height: 14-24 inches

Flowers: borne in an open cyme, rotate; 5 sepals, reflexed, 3-5 mm long; triangular; 5 petals, yellow, 4-7 mm long, shallowly notched, ovate; many stamens and pistils.

Flower color: yellow

Bloom: May, June, July

Bloom starts on: mid May

Bloom ends on: early July

Fruit: achene, compressed elliptic, 2.5-3 mm long, short-hairy, the style persistent as a short beak 3-6 mm long.

Characteristics:
Reproduces sexually by seed and vegetatively by short rhizomes.
G. macrophyllum var. perincisum has the terminal leaflet of the basal leaves deeply cleft and coarsely toothed, while var. macrophyllum has the terminal leaflet of the basal leaves only shallowly lobed, rounded, and finely toothed. It is the common phase west of the Cascade Mountains while var. perincisum is the common phase to the east of the Cascade crest.
n=21 (Baldwin et al 2004, Hitchcock et al 1969).
x=7 (University of British Columbia 2003).
793,706 seeds/lb (Hassell et al 1996).
Flowers are perfect.
Polyploidy is present in the species.
Fruit is an achene.

Sun requirement: partial shade

Soil moisture: mesic

Precipitation: 12-55 inches (USDA NRCS PLANTS Database 2009).

Fire: fire tolerance is probably low

Sowing time: fall

Transplant time: spring

Stratification: cold moist

Seed yield: low

Seed harvest: medium difficulty

Seed first harvest: 2nd season

Seed cleaning: easy

Planting duration: moderate

Seed insect problem: none noted

Seed shatter: low

Seed size: medium

Seed harvest date: July

Seed comments: Plants flower and ripen seed indeterminately.

Herbaria: Specimen data and digital resources from The Consortium of Pacific Northwest Herbaria

Key words: upland perennial native forb

Propagation:
3 protocols in the Native Plant Network
Pullman WA Plant Materials Center
Rocky Mountain National Park, CO
Glacier National Park, Montana

Other propagation information:
Reproduces sexually by seed and vegetatively by short rhizomes.

Notes: Geum macrophyllum is not a particularly charming plant, although the leaves are interesting. It likes some shade, usually grows under hawthorn and other shrubs, or in the forest. May be weedy. Seeds germinate readily with 60 days of cold, moist stratification. Common name is large-leaved or large leaf avens (Skinner et al 2005).

References:
Baldwin, B.G., S. Boyd, B.J. Ertter, D.J. Keil, R.W. Patterson, T.J. Rosatti, and D.H. Wilken (eds). 2004. Jepson Online Interchange for California Floristics. University and Jepson Herbaria, University of California, Berkeley, CA. Accessed 9/13/09 online at http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/interchange.html

Hassell, Wendell, W. Rocky Beavers, Steve Ouellette, and Thomas Mitchell. 1996. Seeding Rate Statistics for Native and Introduced Species. US Department of Interior and US Department of Agriculture, NRCS. Denver, CO.

Hitchcock, C. Leo, Arthur Cronquist, Marion Ownbey, and J.W. Thompson. 1969. Vascular Plants of the Pacific Northwest. University of Washington Press. Seattle, WA. 5 vol.

Skinner, David M., Paul Warnick, Bill French, and Mary Fauci. 2005. More Palouse Forbs for Landscaping. USDA NRCS Pullman Plant Materials Center and Palouse Prairie Foundation. Online at http://www.wsu.edu/pmc_nrcs/Docs/More_Forbs_for_Landscaping.pdf

University of British Columbia. 2003. British Columbia Flora. University of British Columbia Botanical Garden and Centre for Plant Research. Online at http://www.bcflora.org/ Accessed 1/1/06.

USDA NRCS. 2009. The PLANTS Database (http://plants.usda.gov, 13 September 2009). National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70874-4490 USA.

Links:
Plant Profile from the USDA PLANTS Database
Species information from the University of Washington Herbarium