Ross avens (Geum rossii)
Description
Geum triflorum,(prairie smoke,three-flowered avens,or old man's whiskers) is a spring-blooming perennial herbaceous plant of North America from northern Canada to California and east to New York.The flowers bloom from mid-spring to early summer.Prairie smoke has pinnately divided leaves with 7?17 primary leaflets;there are also a few smaller secondary leaflets inserted between some of the primary leaflets.They are arranged in a rosette at ground level and are semi-evergreen: some basal leaves remain over the winter and often turn reddish purple.The flowers bloom in spring.They appear on short reddish purple-tinged stems 15 to 41 centimetres (6 to 16 in) high and are arranged in umbels of 3?5 flowers.At the base of the umbel are leaflike green to reddish purple bracts.Sometimes there are also pairs of leaflike bracts on the stem below the umbel or on the stems of individual flowers.While blooming,the flowers nod downwards and remain mostly closed and bud-like,except for a tiny opening at the bottom.The five petals are cream to yellowish,suffused with pink or purple,but are mostly covered by the five red sepals.Between the sepals are five narrow bractlets.Hidden within the flower are a central cluster of pistils and a ring of many stamens around them.Pollinated flowers turn upwards and open up.The pistils in the middle of the flower develop into heads of seeds with long fuzzy hairs that point upwards.The hairs resemble mauve smoke,hence the name prairie smoke.
Taxonomic tree
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Domain: Eukarya
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Kingdom: Plantae
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Phylum: Magnoliophyta
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Class: Magnoliopsida
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Order: Rosales
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Family: Rosaceae
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Genus: Geum
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