Kingdom: Plantae -- Plants

Phylum: Magnoliophyta -- Flowering plants

Class: Magnoliopsida -- Dicotyledons

Order: Rosales

Family: Rosaceae -- Rose

Variety: The Palouse phase is var. ciliatum

Common Name: prairie smoke, old man’s whiskers

Species Code: GETR

Origin: The species is native to mesic open grasslands of western North America from British Columbia to California and New Mexico, extending eastward through Canada to Ontario and the northern tier states of the US as far as New York. The Palouse phase, var. ciliatum, has a more limited distribution in western North America from British Columbia to Saskatchewan south to New Mexico.

Rare: no

Form: forb, perennial from short thick rhizomes.

Duration: perennial

Longevity: long-lived

Habitat Type: prairie, shrub thickets, forest

Wetland Indicator Status: not listed

Leaves: mainly basal, short-petiolate, blades 3-15 cm long, oblong to obovate, pinnately divided with up to 30 unequal cuneate segments, the segments deeply cleft; puberulent to hirsute or pilose, appearing grey-green.

Mature height: 8-18 inches

Flowers: mostly cymose, subtended by linear to elliptic bracteoles; calyx turbinate or campanulate to cup-shaped, reddish to pink, 5-lobed; petals 5, yellow, sometimes tinged with red or purple, elliptic, shorter than the sepals and remaining mostly enclosed by them during flowering.

Flower color: yellow

Bloom: May, June, July

Bloom starts on: mid May

Bloom ends on: early July

Fruit: achene, pyriform, about 3 mm long; the style remaining attached and plumose, 2-6 cm long.

Characteristics:
Sieversia ciliata in Piper & Beattie 1914.
449,554 seeds/lb for var. ciliatum (USDA NRCS Pullman PMC 2005).
696,000 seeds/lb for the species (Hassell et al 1996).
Geum ciliatum and Sieversia ciliata are synonyms for the western variety.
Reproduces both sexually by seed and vegetatively by rhizomes.
x=7 (University of British Columbia 2003).
n=21 (Baldwin 2004, Hitchcock et al 1969).
Polyploids are known.
Flowers are perfect.
Roots taste like sassafras and can be made into tea.
Fruit is an achene.
Pollinated by bumblebees (Choberka et al 2000)
The plumose style is persistent and aids in wind dissemination of the seed.
Sheep eat the foliage (St. John 1963). Considered poor forage for livestock (Sedivec & Barker 1998). Rocky Mountain elk make a little use of the plants in spring but it is more important in summer (Kufeld 1973).

Sun requirement: full to partial sun

Soil moisture: mesic

Precipitation: 16-40 inches (USDA NRCS PLANTS Database 2009).

Sowing time: fall

Transplant time: spring

Stratification: none

Seed yield: medium

Seed harvest: difficult

Seed first harvest: second season

Seed cleaning: medium difficulty

Planting duration: long

Seed insect problem: none noted

Seed shatter: medium

Seed size: medium

Seed harvest date: late June to mid July

Seed comments: feathery style on the seed affects seed handling. Indeterminate. Highly variable seed size.

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

Key words: native forb upland

Propagation:
2 protocols in the Native Plant Network
Glacier National Park, Montana
Pullman WA Plant Materials Center

Other Propagation Information:
120 days of cold moist stratification with light resulted in highest germination. Germinates at low temperatures during stratification (Nauman 2002).
No pretreatment required (Link 1993).
Germinates without pretreatment. May take 1 month to germinate (Young & Young 1986).
Stratification does not increase germination (Sorenson & Holden 1974).
Alpine seed needs 9 months after-ripening (Kaye 1997).
Cold moist stratification increases germination (Greene & Curtis 1950).
Best growth obtained in greenhouse with day/night temps at least 20/10^oC (McDonough 1969).
Highest germination at alternating day/night temperatures of 17/12^oC (McDonough 1970).

Notes: Geum triflorum petals are yellow and nearly covered by the red sepals, but the plumed seed heads are pretty and the foliage is great. The foliage will stay green as long as there is moisture in the soil. Easy to grow from seed. Sow in spring. It can take up to four weeks to germinate, so keep the seedbed moist. Easier to grow in containers and then transplant to the garden. Flowers in late April and early May. Common names include prairie smoke, three-flowered geum or avens, old-man’s whiskers (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 8/11/09 online at http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/interchange.html

Choberka, E.G., P.J. Higman, and M.R. Penskar. 2000. Special Plant Abstract for Geum triflorum (Prairie Smoke). Michigan Natural Features Inventory, Lansing, MI. Online at http://web4.msue.msu.edu/mnfi/abstracts/botany/Geum_triflorum.pdf

Greene, H.C. and J.T. Curtis. 1950. Germination Studies of Wisconsin Prairie Plants. American Midland Naturalist 43:186-194.

Hassell, Wendell, W. Rocky Beavers, Steve Ouellette, and Thomas Mitchell. 1996. Seeding Rate Statistics for Native and Introduced Species. US Dept of Interior and USDA, 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.

Kaye, T.N. 1997. Seed Dormancy in High Elevation Plants: Implications for Ecology and Restoration. In: Kaye, T.N., A. Liston, R.M. Love, D. Luoma, R.J. Meinke, and M.V. Wilson [eds]. Conservation and Management of Native Plants and Fungi. Native Plant Society of Oregon, Corvallis, Oregon.

Kufeld, Roland. 1973. Foods Eaten by the Rocky Mountain Elk. Journal of Range Management 26:106-113.

Link, Ellen (ed.). 1993. Native Plant Propagation Techniques for National Parks Interim Guide. USDA, NRCS, Rose Lake Plant Materials Center. East Lansing, MI.

McDonough, Walter T. 1969. Seedling Growth of Ten Species from Subalpine Rangeland in Utah as Affected by Controlled Diurnal Temperature Alterations. American Midland Naturalist 82:276-279.

McDonough, Walter T. 1970. Germination of 21 Species Collected from a High Elevation Rangeland in Utah. American Midland Naturalist 84:551-554.

Nauman, C. 2002. Germination of 12 Palouse Prairie Forbs After Stratification Under Light and Dark Treatments. M.S. Thesis, University of Idaho.

Piper, C.V., and R.K. Beattie. 1914. The Flora of Southeastern Washington and Adjacent Idaho. Lancaster, PA: Press of the New Era Printing Company. 296 pp.

Sedivec, Kevin K., and William T. Barker. 1998. Selected North Dakota and Minnesota Range Plants. North Dakota State University Department of Animal and Range Sciences Extension Bulletin EB-69. Fargo, North Dakota. Online at http://www.ag.ndsu.edu/pubs/ansci/range/eb69-2.htm Accessed 12/10/06.

Skinner, David M., Paul Warnick, Bill French, and Mary Fauci. 2005. Characteristics and Uses of Native Palouse Forbs in Landscaping. USDA NRCS Pullman Plant Materials Center and Palouse Prairie Foundation. Online at http://www.wsu.edu/pmc_nrcs/Docs/Forbs_for_Landscaping.pdf

Sorensen, J.T., and D.J. Holden. 1974. Germination of Native Prairie Forb Seeds. Journal of Range Management 27:123-126.

St. John, Harold. 1963. Flora of Southeastern Washington and of Adjacent Idaho. 3rd edition. Outdoor Pictures. Escondido, CA.

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, Pullman Plant Materials Center. 2005. Seed Weights of Some Palouse Native Species. Pullman Plant Materials Center, Pullman, Washington. Online at http://www.wsu.edu/~pmc_nrcs/Docs/Seed_Weights_Palouse_Native_Species.pdf

USDA NRCS. 2009. The PLANTS Database (http://plants.usda.gov, 11 August 2009). National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70874-4490 USA.

Young, James A., and Cheryl G. Young. 1986. Collecting, Processing and Germinating Seeds of Wildland Plants. Timber Press, Portland, OR.

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