Geum
(the old Latin name used by Pliny). Avens. Including Sieversia. Some of the species were formerly placed under a genus named Adamsia. ORD. Rosaceae. A genus comprising about thirty species of hardy perennial herbs, widely diffused over all temperate and cold regions. Flowers yellow, red, or white, growing singly on long peduncles, at the ends of the stems or branches; petals five. Leaves variously dissected, the terminal lobe always the largest. Geums are of very easy culture, in moderately good soil, and in a well- drained situation. Most of the species are well adapted for growing in borders and in the rock garden. Propagated by seeds, or by division. G. chiloense (Chiloe). fl. scarlet, sometimes copper-coloured, panicled, erect. Summer. l., radical ones interruptedly pinnate; leaflets crenately serrated, the terminal one large, cordate, lobed, and crenated; cauline ones three-parted, deeply cut. Stem glandular. h. 1ft. to 2ft. Chiloe, 1826. Plant villous. (B. R. 1088, under name of G. coccineum.) G. c. flore-pleno (double-flowered) is a very handsome form, with double flowers of a bright dazzling scarlet.
G. coccineum (scarlet).* fl. terminal, pedunculate, erect; calyx segments depressed, pubescent; petals purplish, orbiculate-reniform, clawed. l. green, inciso-crenate, veined, pilose; radical ones tufted, spreading, large, lyrate-pinnatifid, leaflets five or seven; upper cauline leaves simple, three-lobed, toothed. Stem solitary, herbaceous, erect; apex sub-corymbose, few-flowered. h. 6in. to 15in. Greece, Asia Minor, &c. (S. F. G. 485.) G. elatum (tall).* fl. erect; petals golden-yellow, orbicular, sometimes notched or two-lobed; calyx lobes ovate-deltoid, or lanceolate, entire or toothed; peduncles long, slender. July. l., radical ones sub-sessile, narrow, gradually dilated from the base to the rounded tip, pinnatisect; cauline ones small, with larger adnate-cut stipules. Stem very slender, twice or more forked, rarely simple. Himalaya Mountains, 1880. Hardy. (B. M. 6568.) G. japonicum (Japanese). fl. yellow, erect. Summer. l. three to five-lobed; hairy. Stem flexuous, hairy. h. 1ft. to 2ft. Japan.
G. montanum (mountain).* fl. yellow, erect. Spring. l. softly hairy, irregularly incised. h. 6in. to 12in. Europe.
G. pyrenaicum (Pyrenean).* fl. yellow, nodding; stems one to four-flowered. June. l. interruptedly pinnate; lower leaflets ovate, dentate, small. Stems erect, simple. h. 1 1/2ft. Pyrenees, 1804. Plant pilose. G. rivale (brook-loving).* Water Avens. fl. reddish, nodding; peduncles pilose, elongated; stems one to four-flowered. June. l. interruptedly and lyrately pinnate; leaflets obovate, biserrate; cauline leaves three-lobed. Stems erect, simple. h. 1ft. to 3ft. Cold and temperate regions (Britain). G. strictum (upright). fl. yellow and striped, large, ascending. May to July. l. all interruptedly pinnate; leaflets ovate, toothed. h. 2ft. Europe, North America, 1778. Plant hairy.
G. triflorum (three-flowered).* fl., calyx dark purple; petals white, purplish-red at extremity and margins, oblong, never spreading; scape purplish, 8in. to 12in. high, hairy, terminating in a three-flowered umbel; pedicels 3in. to 4in. long. July. l. radical, 4in. to 6in. (or more) long, oblong or obovate in outline, interruptedly pinnate; margins of pinnae deeply serrated. North America. (B. M. 2858, under name of Sieversia triflora.)