Geum canadense, Jacq. (Geum album, Gmel.)

Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds.

Time of bloom: June to August.

Seed-time: July to September.

Range: Nova Scotia to Minnesota, southward to Georgia and Missouri.

Habitat: Fence-rows, woodland borders, thickets along streams.

A frequent weed in brushy pastures where sheep are likely to be foraging and to get their fleeces beset with its bristly, hooked achenes. Stems one to two feet in height, slender, erect, finely hairy or sometimes smooth, branched near the top. Lower and basal leaves long-petioled, pinately three- to five-parted, the terminal lobe large and broadly ovate, the lateral lobes small and narrow, all sharply toothed; stem leaves with fewer segments and short petioles, the topmost becoming lance-shaped and sessile. Flowers white or pale greenish yellow, about a half-inch broad, with five short, rounded petals and pointed, reflexed calyx-lobes; stamens many, inserted on a disk at the base of the calyx. Head of fruit nearly globular, the many persistent, jointed styles forming hooks by which the achenes attach themselves to clothing or to the coats of animals for transportation to new homes. (Fig. 152.)

Fig. 152. - White Avens (Geum canadense). X 1/3.

Means Of Control

Close cutting before the development of seeds.