Geum macrophyllum Willd.
Largeleaf avens, big-leaved avens
Big-leaved avens is native to North America.
Plants: Perennials, with stout, hairy stems, 12–39″ (30–100 cm) tall.
Leaves: Simple or compound, usually alternate, and toothed. Basal leaves are on long stalks. The terminal leaf is by far the largest, and it is heart or kidney-shaped, 2–4½″ (5–11 cm) in size. Stem leaves are few, usually attached directly to the stem (sessile), and composed of three parts. Pairs of “mini-leaves” called stipules appear at leaf axils, and these are larger than in other avens.
Flowers: Flowers are ¼–½″ (6.3–12 mm) around, yellow, with sepals interspersed between petals in a starlike shape. Petals may have a dull point or notch at the tips. The sepals are shorter than the petals, and often curled back against the stem. There are many yellow-tipped stamens, and a greenish center of carpels. Flowers appear from May to early August.
Fruits: A velcro-like ball of tiny hooks, 1/16–⅛″ (2.5–5 mm), reddish in color.
Habitats: On stream banks, at edges of woods, and in moist meadows and thickets.
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Similar species. |
Online References:
References:
Clemants, Steven; Gracie, Carol, Wildflowers in the Field and Forest, Oxford University Press, 2006, p. 174
7/30/2025 · Field Estuary, Freeport, Maine · ≈ 3½ × 3½″ (9.7 × 9.6 cm) 
7/13/2015 · Mt. Mansfield, Stowe/Cambridge, Vermont · ≈ 6 × 5″ (14 × 12 cm) 
7/13/2015 · Mt. Mansfield, Stowe/Cambridge, Vermont · ≈ 7 × 7″ (18 × 16 cm) 
6/9/2026 · Glen Ellis Falls, Pinkham Notch, New Hampshire · ≈ 7 × 4½″ (17 × 11 cm) 
6/9/2026 · Glen Ellis Falls, Pinkham Notch, New Hampshire · ≈ 7 × 4½″ (18 × 12 cm) 
6/9/2026 · Glen Ellis Falls, Pinkham Notch, New Hampshire · ≈ 7 × 4½″ (18 × 12 cm) 
| Kingdom | Plantae | Plants, but not fungi, lichens, or algae (from Stearn's Botanical Latin) |
| Subkingdom | Tracheobionta | Vascular plants—plants with a “circulatory system” for delivering water and nutrients |
| Division | Magnoliophyta | Flowering plants, also known as angiosperms |
| Class | Magnoliopsida | Dicotyledons—plants with two initial seed leaves |
| Subclass | Rosidae | Roses, legumes, proteas, dogwoods, hydrangeas, mistletoes, euphorbias, grapes, many more |
| Order | Rosales | Rose family and eight others |
| Family | Rosaceae | Includes apples, apricots, plums, cherries, peaches, pears, raspberries, strawberries, almonds, roses, meadowsweets, photinias, firethorns, rowans, and hawthorns; many others |
| Genus | Geum | An ancient Latin name used by Pliny for this group |
| Species | macrophyllum | Large-leaved |
Geum macrophyllum description by Thomas H. Kent, not updated.
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