Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Rosids: Fabids: Rosales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Geum virginianum
FAMILY
Rosaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Read more about Pale Avens at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Geum virginianum
FAMILY
Rosaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 9 (2014)
Geum virginianum
SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 097-07-002:
Geum virginianum FAMILY Rosaceae
INCLUDING Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Geum hirsutum
INCLUDING Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Geum virginianum
COMMON NAME:
Pale Avens, Cream Avens
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_gevi4_001_lvd
)
JK Marlow jkm170325_215
March Greenville County SC
)
JK Marlow jkm250429_0128
April Greenville County SC
Tall Pines Wildlife Management Area
Larger stipules > 10mm wide, coarsely toothed or even lobed, per Weakley's Flora (2025).
)
JK Marlow jkm120628_332b
June Greenville County SC
)
JK Marlow jkm120702_373
July Greenville County SC
Sepals green, lanceolate, 4-7mm long, acute, spreading to reflexed, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
)
JK Marlow jkm120702_376
July Greenville County SC
)
JK Marlow jkm120703_404
July Greenville County SC
Flowers about 0.6" wide, the petals much shorter than the sepals, per Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005).
COMPARE
flowers of Pale and White Avens
)
JK Marlow jkm120827_065
August Greenville County SC
Densely soft-hairy, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998).
)
JK Marlow jkm120828_077
August Greenville County SC
)
JK Marlow jkm120829_134
August Greenville County SC
Principal leaves irregularly pinnate, w mostly ovate to lanceolate segments, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998).
)
JK Marlow jkm160827_683
August Henderson County NC
Bearwallow Mountain
Stipules of Geum virginianum much larger than those of G. canadense.
)
JK Marlow jkm080921_010
September Greenville County SC
Mid-cauline leaves very coarsely toothed, with 1-5 teeth per cm of margin, per Weakley's Flora.
)
JK Marlow jkm080921_012
September Greenville County SC
Larger stipules greater than 10mm wide, coarsely toothed or even lobed, per Weakley's Flora.
)
JK Marlow jkm080921_016
September Greenville County SC
Style persistent, with a tight kink; style above kink 1-2mm long & ~ deciduous, per Weakley's Flora.
COMPARE
Canada Sanicle and Pale Avens
)
JK Marlow jkm080921_019
September Greenville County SC
COMPARE
fruit of Galium, Geum and Sanicula species
)
JK Marlow jkm080921_030
September Greenville County SC
Calyx reflexed soon after anthesis, per Weakley's Flora.
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Geum virginianum
FAMILY
Rosaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Geum virginianum
FAMILY
Rosaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 9
Geum virginianum
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 097-07-002:
Geum virginianum
FAMILY
Rosaceae
INCLUDING
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Geum hirsutum
INCLUDING
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Geum virginianum
3251
Forb
Perennial
Habitat: Bottomland forests, moist slope forests, swamp forests, and extending upslope to mesic or even dry sites, especially over mafic rocks, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Common in NC Mountains & NC Piedmont, uncommon in SC Mountains (rare elsewhere in GA-NC-SC)
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
LEAVES:
Basal leaves vary from unlobed to 3-lobed or ternately or pinnately dissected. Stem leaves transition to simple and unlobed.
Basal & alternate
FLOWER:
Summer
Cream to pale yellow
Radially symmetrical
5-lobed calyx/5 bracts
5 petals
More than 25 stamens
FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Achene
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast (Cotterman, Waitt, & Weakley, 2019) p265
- Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005) p117
- Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005) p148
- Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998) p069
If a search such as "Carex leptalea var. leptalea" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "Carex leptalea".
Or, to minimize chances of a misspelling, try just "Carex le".
Less is more: If "pencil flower" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "pencil".