Index / Search / Geum rivale

§1 Plant — species · Rosaceae

Geum rivale L.

vernacular purple avens


USDA
GERI2
GBIF
5369701
Rank
species
purple avens (Geum rivale)
Platephotograph · David RenoultCC BY-NC source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Habit and range

Growth habit
Forb/herb
Duration
Perennial
Group
Dicot
Family
Rosaceae Juss.
Genus
Geum
§2a

Native status, by region

  • CAN Canada Native
  • GL Greenland Native
  • L48 Lower 48 States Native
  • SPM St. Pierre & Miquelon Native

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought
Low
Shade
High
Moisture use
High
Fire
Medium
Salinity
None
Anaerobic
Medium
CaCO₃
Medium
Hedging
None
§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance
-33 °F minimum
Frost-free days
95 min.
Precipitation
30–55 in/yr
pH range
4.8–7
Root depth
12 in min.
Fertility need
High
Soil texture
coarse, medium, fine
§3c

Form & growth

Growth form
Single Crown
Growth rate
Moderate
Lifespan
Moderate
Mature height
3 ft
Foliage texture
Coarse
Foliage colour
Green
Porosity (summer)
Moderate
Porosity (winter)
Porous
Flower colour
Purple
Fruit colour
Brown
Fire resistant
No
N fixation
None
Toxicity
None
§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period
Mid Spring
Seed abundance
High
Seed begins
Spring
Seed ends
Summer
Spread rate
Moderate
Stratify
No
Seeds / lb
400,000
Propagation
seed
§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability
Routinely Available
Nursery stock
No
Palatable, human
No
Lumber
No
Christmas tree
No

§4Montana distribution

Recorded in 8 of 56 Montana counties.


§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/GERI2 ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/5369701 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-25

fetched 2026-05-25T16:28:53Z