Nodding, bell-like flowers with dark purple-red sepals and orange-pink petals hang from purple stems in a damp meadow
Water avens, Geum rivale.
Nature · Wildflowers & flowers
Water avens
Native · flowers May–Sep · damp meadows, streamsides and wet woods
Geum rivale — Rosaceae
A hairy perennial of streamsides, damp woods and wet meadows whose nodding, bell-like flowers are dusky orange-pink with dark purple-red sepals. It is commonest in the north and west. It hybridises with the yellow-flowered herb bennet where the two grow together.
How to spot them
- ▸Nodding, cup-shaped flowers with dark purple-red sepals surrounding orange-pink petals and a cluster of yellow stamens (Wildlife Trusts)
- ▸Flowers hang from delicate purplish stems up to 50 cm tall
- ▸Round, lobed leaves in a clump at the base; the stem leaves are three-lobed
- ▸Fruits are hooked burrs clustered in a head, like those of herb bennet
- ▸Look-alike: herb bennet, Geum urbanum, has upright, small yellow flowers; hybrids between the two have intermediate flowers
How to know it
Where it grows beside the yellow-flowered herb bennet, plants with intermediate coloured flowers appear
Water avens hybridises with herb bennet (Geum × intermedium).
Found mainly in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, with scattered populations through England
Water avens, per the Wildlife Trusts.
Its hooked fruit heads cling to clothing and fur, like those of a woodland relative with yellow flowers
Water avens, in the rose family.
Members of the rose family, this streamside plant's flowers attract bees, butterflies and dragonflies
Water avens.
Quick-fire facts
- •Family Rosaceae, the rose family, related to strawberry and cinquefoil
- •Wildlife Trusts: flowers May to September, up to 50 cm tall, mainly in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland with scattered populations through England
- •Hybridises with the yellow-flowered wood avens (herb bennet), producing Geum × intermedium
- •Attracts dragonflies, bees and butterflies, according to the Wildlife Trusts
- •Grows well in bog gardens beside ragged-robin
- •Native
Drill it — 6 cards
1 / 6new card
Sources
- The Wildlife Trusts — Water avens