Page author: David Giblin
Geum triflorum
prairie smoke, old-man's whiskers
Specimens
Photos

Distribution: Occurring on both sides of the Cascades crest in Washington; Yukon Territory to California, east to the northern Great Plains, and Great Lakes regions.

Habitat: Prairies, balds, and moister places in the sagebrush plains, from the foothills to subalpine ridges.

Flowers: April-August

Origin: Native

Growth Duration: Perennial

Conservation Status: Not of concern

Pollination: Self-pollination, bees, flies

Description:
General:

Herbaceous perennial from thick, scaly rhizomes, forming clumps 3 dm. or more broad, with flowering stems up to 3 dm. tall.

Leaves:

Leaves mostly basal, somewhat hairy and grayish, the blades 5-15 cm. long, oblong to obovate, unevenly pinnate to pinnatifid, the segments deeply cleft into linear or oblong divisions, or cleft less than half way and again 2- to 3-toothed.; cauline leaves 2, opposite, much reduced, stipulate, attached about mid-stem.

Flowers:

Flowers few in a terminal, open cluster; calyx cup-shaped, reddish-purple, 4-5 mm. long, the 5 lobes triangular, upright, 8-12 mm. long, the 5 bracteoles somewhat spreading, linear or 2-3 cleft; petals 5, light yellow to strongly pinkish-tinged, convergent, elliptic to elliptic-ovate, somewhat longer to much shorter than the bracteoles; stamens and styles numerous.

Fruits:

Achenes pear-shaped, 3 mm. long, the lower part of the persistent style 3-5 cm. long, strongly plumose, purplish, the terminal section glabrous, 3-6 mm. long.

Accepted Name:
Geum triflorum Pursh
Publication: Fl. Amer. Sept. (Pursh) 2: 736. 1813.

Synonyms & Misapplications:
Erythrocoma campanulata Greene
Erythrocoma ciliata (Pursh) Greene
Geum campanulatum (Greene) G.N. Jones
Geum ciliatum Pursh
Geum triflorum Pursh var. campanulatum (Greene) C.L. Hitchc. [HC]
Geum triflorum Pursh var. ciliatum (Pursh) Fassett [HC]
Geum triflorum Pursh var. triflorum [HC]
Sieversia campanulata (Greene) Rydb.
Sieversia ciliata (Pursh) G. Don
Additional Resources:

PNW Herbaria: Specimen records of Geum triflorum in the Consortium of Pacific Northwest Herbaria database.

WA Flora Checklist: Geum triflorum checklist entry.

OregonFlora: Geum triflorum information.

E-Flora BC: Geum triflorum atlas page.

CalPhotos: Geum triflorum photos.

USDA Plants: Geum triflorum information.

116 photographs:
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