Geum triflorum
Geum geniculatum
old man's beard, old-man's whiskers, prairie smoke, three-flower avens, three-sisters, torchflower
bent avens
10–45 cm, downy to pilose, hairs 0.1–3 mm, sometimes septate-glandular.
50–84 cm, sparsely hirsute proximally, hirsute distally.
basal 4–30 cm, blade interruptedly pinnate, major leaflets 10–18, alternating with 6–16 minor ones gradually increasing in size distally, terminal leaflet slightly larger than major laterals;
cauline 1–5 cm, stipules adnate to leaf, indistinguishable from leaflets/lobes, blade bractlike, not resembling basal, opposite, pinnate-pinnatifid.
basal 14–30 cm, blade interruptedly lyrate-pinnate, major leaflets 1–5, mixed with 2–5 minor ones, terminal leaflet slightly to much larger than major laterals;
cauline 4–12 cm, stipules ± free, 7–20 × 4–8 mm, blade pinnate, 3-foliolate, or simple and 3-lobed.
(1–)3–5(–7)-flowered.
5–15-flowered.
densely woolly, sometimes glandular.
densely pilose, some hairs septate-glandular.
nodding, erect in fruit;
epicalyx bractlets 6–15 mm;
hypanthium maroon, purple, or greenish mottled with purple, may turn pale brown in fruit;
sepals erect, 7–14 mm;
petals erect, cream to yellowish suffused with pink or purple, or purple-veined, elliptic, 7–13 mm, shorter to longer than sepals, apex rounded to obtuse.
nodding;
epicalyx bractlets 2.5–3 mm;
hypanthium green with purple tinge at base to greenish maroon;
sepals erect to erect-spreading, 5–8 mm;
petals erect, white, pink, or lavender, spatulate-obovate, 5–7 mm, ± equal to sepals, apex rounded, truncate, or shallowly emarginate.
sessile, densely puberulent.
sessile, densely bristly.
wholly persistent or distal 3–7 mm tardily deciduous, not or inconspicuously geniculate-jointed, 15–70 mm, apex not or occasionally ± hooked, pilose to apex or nearly so.
geniculate-jointed, proximal segment persistent, 2–4.5 mm, apex hooked, septate-glandular hairs on basal 1/2, distal segment very tardily deciduous, 5–8 mm, pilose except apical 1–2 mm, with some glandular hairs.
Geum triflorum
Geum geniculatum
Varieties 2 (2 in the flora).
At the beginning of the twentieth century, E. L. Greene described over a dozen species belonging to the Geum triflorum complex based on differences in leaf form and indument, the relative length and shape of the epicalyx bractlets and sepals, and petal length and shape. Most of these species were quickly reduced to synonymy by other botanists. When specimens are examined from across the continent, most of the characters used to separate species in the G. triflorum complex show nearly continuous variation. It seems best to treat these variants as belonging to one species. Whether and how to classify the variation within the species will remain controversial. Some character expressions correlate reasonably well with dividing the species into two varieties, as was first proposed by N. C. Fassett (1928). Variety triflorum occurs east of the Rocky Mountains and is typical of the grasslands covering the northern Great Plains; it also is the variety found in the mountains of Arizona and New Mexico. Variety ciliatum is common throughout the rest of the Rocky Mountains, the Sierra Nevada, and Cascade Range. Intermediate specimens occur here and there, particularly in Alberta and British Columbia.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Of conservation concern.
Geum geniculatum is enigmatic and is currently known from 15 populations in western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee. As a rare plant, it has attracted far less attention than G. radiatum, which is also known from the same region. Although G. geniculatum is not listed federally as endangered or threatened, it is listed as threatened by North Carolina and as endangered by Tennessee.
W. Gajewski (1957) speculated that Geum geniculatum is a hybrid, with one of the parents being G. rivale. K. R. Robertson (1974) pointed out that the nearest locality for G. rivale is in West Virginia and that pollen stainability of G. geniculatum is very high. Geum geniculatum may be of hybrid origin; it cannot be a first-generation hybrid. North American taxonomists have treated it as a valid species.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
1. Basal leaves with larger leaflets toothed or cleft less than 1/2 their lengths; fruiting styles persistent, 28–70 mm. | var. triflorum |
1. Basal leaves with larger leaflets cleft more than 1/2 their lengths; fruiting styles: proximal segments persistent, 15–40 mm, distal segments tardily deciduous, 3–7 mm. | var. ciliatum |
- Local floras:
BC, 
OR, 
WA - Local Web sites:
CalFlora, CalPhotos, 
Flora NW, 
IL Wildflowers, 
MI Flora, 
MN Wildflowers, 
PNW Herbaria, 
SW CO Wildflowers, Turner Photog. 
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist (observations)
USDA Plants Database- LBJ Wildflower Center
- SEINet
- Plants of the World Online
- Encyclopedia of Life
- Wikipedia
- Google Image Search
