Geum urbanum (Rosaceae), a New Naturalized Species for Connecticut

Abstract

The European native Geum urbanum L. (Rosaceae), herb-bennet, clove-root, town avens, or wood avens, has been grown as a medicinal perennial herb in North America since its introduction by early settlers. It was reported as escaped from cultivation in the Cambridge, Massachusetts, area as early as 1884 and subsequently became naturalized over a larger area (Fernald 1910: p. 189). As noted by Fernald (1950: p. 817), G. urbanum ‘‘is spreading in dooryards and on shaded roadsides locally, about towns of e. Mass. and e. Pa.’’ According to NatureServe (2018), the species has been documented in eight US midwestern and northeastern states (Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Wisconsin) and four Canadian provinces (New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Québec) and three western states (Oregon, Utah, Washington); USDA (2018) distribution generally agrees except they also list it in New York and not in Nova Scotia. This species is included in Flora Novae Angliae as occurring in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Vermont, growing in ‘‘roadsides, waste areas, gardens’’ (Haines 2011). Here, we note the first reported naturalized occurrence of this species in Connecticut. Geum urbanum has long been cultivated in Europe as a medicinal herb, moth repellent, and ale flavoring (Bunney 1984). Geum urbanum grows naturally in moist deciduous woodlands and forest edges, ranging from the British Isles to Turkey (EuroþMed PlantBase 2006). Geum rivale L. and G. urbanum are reported to hybridize regularly where they are sympatric (The Wild Flower Society 2012). Geum urbanum is a sparsely foliated perennial up to 1 m tall (Figure 1) with three-parted to pinnate basal and cauline leaves, terminal leaf lobe similar but slightly larger than lateral lobes, and large leafy stipules resembling a pair of basal leaflets, as wide or wider than long