Avens (Geum)
| ..... | ..... | ..... | big terminal leaflet: | ..... |
| smooth or sl hairy | hairy | smooth | hairy | |
| 1) dispersal as stick tights | ..... | ..... | ..... | ..... |
| white fls | white a. (2.canadense) dry or moist woods; NS to GA | rough a. (4.laciniatum = lacinate0 moist or wet soil; NS to s ON to NJ, w VA, KY | ..... | ..... |
| yellow to cream | spring a. (1.vernum) rich woods & borders; s ON to TN & c/s NY, NJ, PA | yellow a. (6.aleppicum = Alep, n. Syria) meadows, thickets, woods; NF to NJ | ..... | ..... |
| greenish-yellow | ..... | cream-colored a. (3.virginianum) moist upland; woods; MA & NY to NC | ..... | large-leaved a. (5.macrophyllum)* moist woods &thickets; NF to ME, VT, NY |
| purple | ..... | ..... | purple a. (7.rivale) swamps & wet meadows; NF to NJ, PA | ..... |
| 1)dispersal by wind | ..... | prairie smoke (8.triflorum) X; purple fls; dry woods & prairies; w NY to MN | ..... | mountain avens (9.peckii)* X yellow fls; damp slopes & alpine meadows; White Mountains |
* = terminal leaflt large & fan-shaped
Prairie smoke (G. triflorum) is one of the earliest flowers to appear on the prairies, it attracts attention when in fruit with its "feather duster" look, especially when it forms colonies. Indians once made a tea from the roots.
Kalm. 11/30/1748. The people who have settled on the Mohawk River in New York, both Indians and Europeans, collect the root of the Geum rivale, and pound it. This powder some of them boil in water till it is a pretty strong decoction; others add only cold water to it and leave it so for a day; others mix it with brandy. Of this medicine the patient takes a wineglass full on the morning of the day when the fever does not come, before he has eaten anything. I was assured that this was one of the surest remedies, and more certain than the Jesuits' bark. Pp. 197.