Geum

Geum (probably originally from Greek, geuo, to have a taste; referring to the roots). Rosaceae. Hardy border and rock plants, some of which are valued for their bright red flowers, some for their pure yellow flowers, others for their long plumy fruits.

Herbs, with a perennial rhizome, sometimes stoloniferous: root-lvs. crowded, odd-pinnate, the alternate lobes often smaller, terminal ones largest; st.-lvs. few, mostly of 3 lfts. or bract-like: fls. 1-2 in. across, solitary or corymbose or cymose; calyx persistent, its tube nearly hemispheric, usually 5-lobed; petals 5, nearly or quite round, longer than the calyx: fr. bunched on a short receptacle, frequently plumed.— More than 50 species, mostly in temperate and frigid regions.

The plumy kinds are all contained in the subgenus Sieversia. G. chiloense is the best species, and in the gardens is commonly seen in double forms. A gardener writes that "inferior forms show scarcely any duplicity." Geums are of easy culture, and are propagated by division or seed. It is said that they hybridize freely if grown together. The dwarf kinds are suited only to the rockery. Correvon, of Geneva, Switzerland, writes that G. reptans is one of the best of the rockery kinds, and needs full sunlight. For G. triflorum he advises half exposure to sun and a light, moist soil. G. rivale grows naturally in marshy places.

G. atrococcineum, Hort., may be a typographical error for G. atrosanguineum.- G. atrosanguineum, Hort., is presumably a form of G. chiloense, with darker fls. than the type, and sold mostly if not entirely, in its double condition. G. bulgaricum, Hort.,=(?). G. ewenii has light orange fls. and is said to be a good border plant. – G. japonicum, Thunb., is sold, but little known. St. flexuose, hirsute: lvs. 3-5-lobed, hirsute: fls. erect, yellow petals, as long as the calyx: fr. hirsute, awned, recurved. Japan.

Wilhelm Miller. N. Taylor.

For the river, see Geum River.

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Avens