North Carolina Botanical Garden

Plant Index

Scientific Name:
Common Name:
Genus:
Family:

Geum radiatum

Geum radiatum Michx.

cliff avens, spreading avens

Synonym(s): Acomastylis radiata, Sieversia radiata

Image ID: 19345
Image by: Stuart, Will
Image Collection: NCBG Digital Library

PLANT INDEX

ID_PLANT: GERA2
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Geum radiatum
Include in WOTAS: 1
Publish to Web: 1
Last Modified: 2017-12-11

GENUS INDEX

GENUS CODE: GEUM
GENUS SCIENTIFIC: Geum
GENUS AUTHORITY: L.
GENUS COMMON: Avens
GENUS SUMMARY: A genus of 40-60 species, herbs, mainly of north temperate areas. Many researchers have advocated breaking Geum into varying numbers of segregate genera; even the most conservative divisions place G. radiatum in a genus separate from our other species (such as Parageum; see synonymy) and some would place G. vernum in Stylipus. Molecular studies (Smedmark 2006; Smedmark & Eriksson 2002) make a strong case for a broad circumscription of Geum, including Waldsteinia, as many of the segregates are complexly and reticulately interrelated.
GENUS IDENTIFICATION:
GENUS REFERENCES: Rohrer in FNA (2014) [Geum]; Phipps in FNA (2014) [Waldsteinia]; Robertson (1974)=Z, Bolle (1933)=Y; Král (1966)=X; Smedmark (2006)=V; Weakley & Gandhi (2008)=Q; Smedmark & Eriksson (2002); Kalkman in Kubitzki (2004). [including Parageum and Waldsteinia]

FAMILY INDEX

FAMILY CODE: ROSACE
FAMILY SCIENTIFIC: Rosaceae
FAMILY AUTHORITY: A.L. de Jussieu 1789
FAMILY COMMON: Rose Family
FAMILY SUMMARY: A family of about 85-95 genera and 2000-3000 species, trees, shrubs, and herbs, nearly cosmopolitan, but mainly boreal and temperate.
FAMILY REFERENCE: Phipps in FNA (2014); Potter et al. (2007); Eriksson et al. (2003); Kalkman in Kubitzki (2004); Ertter (2007).

NCBG DESCRIPTIVES

INTRO: Low-growing perennial from a horizontal rhizome, found on high-elevation rocky summits in thin soil at tops of cliffs and on ledges (where not trampled), in pockets of soil on nearly vertical portions of cliffs and in open grassy balds.
STEMS: Stems mostly leafless and densely hairy flowering scapes that arise from horizontal rhizome separately from leaves.
LEAVES: Leaves mostly basal, divided into 1 major toothed and kidney-shaped terminal leaflet (2 1/2-5 in. wide) and a pair of minor lateral leaflets, the petiole usually longer than the terminal leaflet.
INFLORESCENCE:
FLOWERS: Flowers in a small branching cluster, each on a short, glandular-hairy stalk; bright yellow; consisting of 5 spreading heart-shaped petals, 5 shorter lance-shaped sepals, and many stamens surrounding a cone-shaped compound ovary bristling with elongated styles.
FRUITS: Fruit a bristly, dome-shaped head of achenes.
COMMENTS: This is a federal Endangered species with a very restricted range.
HEIGHT: 8-20 in.

DURATION: Perennial
HABIT: Herb

LEAF ARRANGEMENT: Alternate
LEAF COMPLEXITY: Simple
LEAF RETENTION:

FLORAL CHARACTERISTICS
SYMMETRY: Radial (Actinomorphic)
BLOOM TIME: Jun-Aug

Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
					x	x	x	x

BLOOM COLOR: Yellow

White	Red	Pink	Orange	Yellow	Green	Blue	Lavender	Purple	Violet	Brown	Not Applicable
			x	x

FRUITING PERIOD: Jul-Sep.

DISTRIBUTION
HABITAT TYPE: High elevation
NATIVE RANGE:

HORTICULTURAL
Plant Sale Text:

Bloom Table Text:

NCBG Location:

Cultural Notes:

SOIL MOISTURE:
LIGHT EXPOSURE:
MINIMUM HARDINESS ZONE:
MAXIMUM HARDINESS ZONE:
GERMINATION CODE:
WILDLIFE VALUE:
DEER RESISTANCE:

GRIM ACCESSIONS

acc_id	acc_num	acc_dt	coll_id	Action
3359	1990-0232			View

USDA PLANTS DATABASE

USDA Symbol: GERA2
USDA Common Name: Appalachian Avens
Native Status: L48 (N)
Distribution: USA (NC, TN)
Duration: Perennial
Growth Habit: Forb/herb
Federal Endangered: Endangered

ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION ONLINE SYSTEM

ECOS ID	Critical Habitat	Federal Listing Status	Special Rules	Where Listed	View
6854	N/A	Endangered	N/A	Wherever found	Detail

This information is derived from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Environmental Conservation Online System.

2018 Natural Heritage Program List of Rare Plant Species of North Carolina

NHP ID	S RANK	ROUNDED S RANK	G RANK	ROUNDED G RANK	STATE STATUS	FEDERAL STATUS
16846	S2	S2	G2	G2	E	E

This information is derived from the 2018 North Carolina Natural Heritage Program List of Rare Plant Species.

WEAKLEY FLORA

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Geum radiatum
COMMON NAME: Spreading Avens, Cliff Avens
SYNONYMY: [= FNA, K, RAB, W, Z; = Sieversia radiata (Michaux) Greene - S; = Parageum radiatum (Michaux) H. Hara - X; = Acomastylis radiata (Michaux) Bolle - Y]
PHENOLOGY: Jun-Aug; Jul-Sep.
HABITAT: High elevation rocky summits, in thin soil at tops of cliffs and on ledges (where not trampled), in pockets of soil on nearly vertical portions of cliffs, in open grassy balds, around Rhododendron catawbiense in grassy balds, or in grassy areas at bases of cliffs (where succession by shrubs is prevented by accumulation of seepage ice and by stone fall).
COMMENTS: Ranging from Ashe County, NC (Phoenix Mountain) south and west to Sevier County, TN (Mount Leconte) and Transylvania County, NC (the Devils Courthouse), restricted to pseudo-alpine rock outcrops and grassy meadows near the summits of the higher peaks of the Southern Blue Ridge, notably Bluff Mountain, Three Top Mountain, Phoenix Mountain, and The Peak (Ashe County, NC), Grandfather Mountain (Watauga and Avery counties, NC), Grassy Ridge (Avery County, NC), Roan High Bluff (Mitchell County, NC), Mount Craig in the Black Mountains (Yancey County, NC), Craggy Pinnacle, Craggy Dome, and Craggy Gardens (Buncombe County), the Devils Courthouse (Transylvania County, NC), and Mount Leconte (Sevier County, TN). G. radiatum is closely related to three other taxa, these siblings also restricted in range and endemic to mountainous areas, collectively showing a relictual distribution: G. peckii Pursh (of alpine meadows and moist, rocky slopes of NS and the higher peaks of NH and ME), G. calthifolium Menzies ex Smith var. calthifolium (of wet snow-melt meadows of w. BC, w. YT, s. AK, and the Aleutians), and G. calthifolium var. nipponicum (of wet snow-melt meadows of s. Kamchatka and Japan). It is illegal to collect G. radiatum without federal and state permits, and there is no justification (scientific or otherwise) for additional collections from known sites. This is one of the few plant species that has been seriously depleted by collection by scientists (several hundred herbarium sheets from Roan Mountain alone!), though recreational over-use of its habitats, and possibly also pollution and break-up of adjoining spruce-fir forests, are the more critical threats to its continued existence.
RANGE MAP: Geum radiatum.png

Key to Map Symbols

ABOUT FAMILY (Weakley Flora)
Rosaceae A.L. de Jussieu 1789 (Rose Family)
SUMMARY: A family of about 85-95 genera and 2000-3000 species, trees, shrubs, and herbs, nearly cosmopolitan, but mainly boreal and temperate.
REFERENCE: Phipps in FNA (2014); Potter et al. (2007); Eriksson et al. (2003); Kalkman in Kubitzki (2004); Ertter (2007).

ABOUT GENUS (Weakley Flora)
Geum L. (Avens)
SUMMARY: A genus of 40-60 species, herbs, mainly of north temperate areas. Many researchers have advocated breaking Geum into varying numbers of segregate genera; even the most conservative divisions place G. radiatum in a genus separate from our other species (such as Parageum; see synonymy) and some would place G. vernum in Stylipus. Molecular studies (Smedmark 2006; Smedmark & Eriksson 2002) make a strong case for a broad circumscription of Geum, including Waldsteinia, as many of the segregates are complexly and reticulately interrelated.
REFERENCE: Rohrer in FNA (2014) [Geum]; Phipps in FNA (2014) [Waldsteinia]; Robertson (1974)=Z, Bolle (1933)=Y; Král (1966)=X; Smedmark (2006)=V; Weakley & Gandhi (2008)=Q; Smedmark & Eriksson (2002); Kalkman in Kubitzki (2004). [including Parageum and Waldsteinia]

HERBARIUM RESOURCES

SERNEC: Find Geum radiatum in Southeast Regional Network of Experts and Collections (if available)
UNC SERNEC: Find Geum radiatum in University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Herbarium - Southeast Regional Network of Experts and Collections (if available)

WEB RESOURCES

USDA: Find Geum radiatum in USDA Plants
NPIN: Find Geum radiatum in NPIN Database
FNA: Find Geum radiatum in the Flora of North America (if available)
Google: Search Google for Geum radiatum

IMAGE USE RECORDS

ID IMAGE: 19345 - Primary Image FloraQuest Plant Detail Page (Landscape Preferred)
ID IMAGE1: 23906 - Primary Image WOTAS
ID IMAGE2: 0 - Secondary Image WOTAS
ID IMAGE3: 23871 - Primary Image Plant Sale Sign (Landscape Only)
ID IMAGE4: 0 - Primary Image New Plant Sale Label (Portrait Only)