LONG-PLUMED AVENS
(Geum triflorum - Rose Family)
EDIBLE/MEDICINAL - see below
History:
The Long-plumed Avens is also called Old man's Whiskers or Prairie Smoke. The genus name "Geum" is the Old Latin name for one of the species. "Triflorum" means 3-flowered referring to the floral arrangement.
Description:
The pink to rose-colored flowers of the Long-plumed Avens hang downward. After fertilization, the flowers turn upright. Later the flowers turn into a feathery seed plume. Its leaves are greatly dissected and are fern like in appearance and appear mainly at the base of the plant. The whole plant has soft hairs. The leaves of the Avens are one of the first green things to appear when the snow recedes.
Habitat:
Found on plains, hillsides, and ridges in medium-dry soil. They flower throughout May until the first part of July.
Edible and medicinal value:
The Indians would make a beverage from boiled roots which tasted like weak sassafras tea. The Blackfeet Indians are reported to have used the root of the Long-plumed Avens as an eye wash.
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