ROSACEA. 



241 



erect, 2 or 3 inches long. Segments of 

 the calyx usually 8, rather shorter than 

 the petals. Feathered awn of the carpels 

 above an inch long. 



General geographical range nearly the 

 same as that of the genus. In Britain, 

 not uncommon in the limestone moun- 

 tain-districts of northern England and 

 Ireland, but particularly abundant in 

 the north of Scotland. Fl. summer. 



Fig. 298. 



IY. AVENS. GEUM. 



Herbs, with a short perennial, sometimes slightly creeping stock, 

 and annual, erect stems. Leaves pinnate, with a few and very unequal 

 distinct segments, and yellow or red or white flowers growing singly 

 on long peduncles at the ends of the stem or branches. Calyx of 5 

 equal divisions, with 5 very small outer ones alternating with them. 

 Petals 5. Stamens numerous. Carpels numerous, 1-seeded, indehis- 

 cent, ending in a hairy point or awn, which is hooked at the tip. 



A genus of several species, widely diffused over the temperate and 

 colder regions of Europe, Asia, and North America, and descending 

 along the Andes to extratropical South America. 



1. Common Avens. Geum urbanum, Linn. (Fig. 299.) 

 (Eng. Bot. t. 1400. Herb-Bennet.) 



Stems erect, slightly branched, 1 to 2 feet high, nearly glabrous. 

 Stipules large and leaf-like, the upper ones sometimes above an inch 

 long and broad, and coarsely toothed or lobed. Leaves thin, light 

 green, the lower ones w r ith several large segments intermixed with 

 small ones, the upper ones usually with only 3 large segments, or a 

 single one divided into 3, and sometimes 2 or 3 small ones along the 

 stalk, all coarsely toothed. Flowers yellow, with small spreading petals. 

 Carpels in a close, sessile head, covered with silky hairs ; the awn 



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