Geum macrophyllum / largeleaf avens

Adjectives: native, riparian, wet meadows, widespread

Also known as: bigleaf avens

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Largeleaf avens stands out, when flowering, as a yellow, round-edged, 5-petaled flower, often found in wetlands or on their edges. The petals are not shiny like those of buttercups, but more semi-gloss or satin finished. Flowering stalks have 3-10 flowers. Looking closely, you can see the numerous long styles protruding from the green center. These are a distinguishing feature of North American geums. In the largeleaf avens, these styles are said to look like pig’s tails. Although you can’t see it without a uv light, there is a large black spot at the base of each petal that serves as a guide for insect pollinators.

This species has a long flowering period and produces new flowers even as the old ones form fruits. This is good – from the standpoint of plant identification – because the fruit is far more distinctive than the flower. It looks sort of like a velcro ball due to the persistent styles even at that stage. Although I haven’t experienced this, the hooks supposedly catch on clothes and animal hairs.

The vegetative plant is erect, and sometimes the stems and flowering stalks are densely covered with long hairs. The basal leaves are compound with have long petioles. The terminal leaflet is definitely the largest and shaped more or less like a maple leaf. Stem leaves, on the other hand, are usually sessile and deeply cut to 3 lobes.

Bigleaf avens is a perennial and may spread vegetatively over short distances by rhizomes.

I have also been unable to find out what “avens” comes from or means.