Yellow avens facts for kids
Geum aleppicum, also known as yellow avens or common avens, is a beautiful flowering plant. It grows naturally in many cool parts of the Northern Hemisphere. You can find it from eastern Europe all the way across Asia and North America.
Quick facts for kids Yellow avens |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Genus: |
Geum
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| Species: |
aleppicum
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This plant is a herbaceous perennial plant. This means it has soft stems, not woody ones like a tree. It also lives for more than two years, coming back each growing season. Yellow avens can grow up to 1 meter (about 3 feet) tall.
Its leaves are "pinnate," meaning they have smaller leaflets arranged along a central stem, like a feather. The flowers are bright yellow and about 2 centimeters (less than an inch) wide. Each flower has five to seven petals, and these petals often have small teeth along their edges.
There are two main types, called subspecies, of Geum aleppicum:
- Geum aleppicum subsp. aleppicum: This type is found in Europe and Asia.
- Geum aleppicum subsp. strictum: This type grows in North America.
Where Yellow Avens Grows
Yellow avens is a very adaptable plant. It likes to grow in many different places. You can often spot it in forests and open meadows. It also thrives on grassy slopes and along river banks. You might even see it in clearings or next to roads.
Finding Yellow Avens Around the World
In Europe, you can find this plant in places like the Carpathian Mountains in Romania and Slovakia. It also grows in eastern Poland, the Baltic countries, Belarus, and Ukraine. Its range continues across the Caucasus region and into European Russia. From there, it spreads east across the southern half of Siberia. It reaches as far south as the Tienshan mountains and east to the Pacific coast. You can also find it in parts of southern Kamchatka, Sakhalin, and northern Japan.
In China, yellow avens is common in the northern cool regions. However, it can also be found in central China. From there, it extends southwest into the Yunnan province.
In North America, its home stretches from Alaska through western and southern Canada. It grows in most of the United States, except for the southeastern states. Its range goes south all the way into Mexico.
Sometimes, a plant is found in new places where it didn't grow naturally before. This happens when it is "introduced" by people. Yellow avens has been introduced to Scandinavia and New Zealand.
See Also
In Spanish: Geum aleppicum para niños
