Bent Avens
Geum geniculatum
Found in seeps, seepy boulderfield forests, grassy balds, cliff bases, banks of cool streams up to about 5 m wide, at high to moderate elevations. Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Northern Tier edition What its natural habitat tells you
Native to Virginia. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 88%
- Height
- Up to about 2.5 feet
- Light
- Partial shade, Full shade, Full sun
- Soil moisture
- Dry to wet
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Rare or protected plant. Specialist conservation planting; excluded from routine garden suggestions. Plant caution source
Hidden from default planting suggestions. Wildlife value and native status remain unchanged.
At a glance
- Life cycle
- Perennial
- Bloom
- June to August
- Fruiting season
- August to September
Not yet recorded · Spread · Leaves
Recorded in 1 Virginia county.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
Cliffs, ledges and rocky summits
Streams, rivers and their banks
Also found with this plant
Wildlife whose habitat models include habitats this plant grows in, in Virginia. Shared habitat, not food. 124 animals.
- Black-billed CuckooCoccyzus erythropthalmus
- Broad-winged HawkButeo platypterus
- Brown ThrasherToxostoma rufum
- Carolina WrenThryothorus ludovicianus
- Cerulean WarblerDendroica cerulea
- Chestnut-sided WarblerDendroica pensylvanica
- Chuck-will's-widowCaprimulgus carolinensis
- Common YellowthroatGeothlypis trichas
- Downy WoodpeckerPicoides pubescens
- Golden-winged WarblerVermivora chrysoptera
- Gray CatbirdDumetella carolinensis
- Louisiana WaterthrushSeiurus motacilla
- Magnolia WarblerDendroica magnolia
- Northern ParulaParula americana
- Olive-sided FlycatcherContopus cooperi
- Red-breasted NuthatchSitta canadensis
- Red-headed WoodpeckerMelanerpes erythrocephalus
- Summer TanagerPiranga rubra
- White-breasted NuthatchSitta carolinensis
- White-throated SparrowZonotrichia albicollis
- Wood ThrushHylocichla mustelina
- Worm-eating WarblerHelmitheros vermivorum
- Yellow-billed CuckooCoccyzus americanus
- Acadian FlycatcherEmpidonax virescens
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Who uses this plant?
3CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including VA
Genus host records with ranges including VA · Geum
- Cenopis reticulatanaReticulated Fruitworm Moth
- Dysstroma citrataDark Marbled Carpet
- Dysstroma truncataMarbled Carpet
0BeesSoutheastern regional records
0Specialist beesPollen specialists
3BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim
Recorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim · Geum
- Bonasa umbellusRuffed Grouse
- Lagopus leucuraWhite-tailed Ptarmigan
- Leucosticte atrataBlack Rosy-Finch
Direct food only: birds recorded eating this genus across North America. Caterpillars on host plants also feed nesting birds. NC Native Plant Society: butterfly gardening
No records yet · Ants · Beetles · Flies · Adult butterflies / moths · Other wasps · Other insects
Plant details
- Family
- Rosaceae
- Flower color
- White, pink or purple
- Fruit begins
- August
- Fruit ends
- September
Growing sources and scope
- Bloom · “Late June to August” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
- Flower color · “White, pink or purple” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Fruit begins · “August” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
- Fruit ends · “September” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
- Height · “Up to about 2.5 feet” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Life cycle · “Perennial” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Light · “Partial shade; Full shade; Full sun (documented habitat)” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
- Soil · “Dry; Moist; Wet (documented habitat)” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
Conservation status
| Virginia rank | S1 |
|---|---|
| Global rank | G2 |
| VA status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
Will it fit your yard?
Check this plant against your county, sun and soil moisture. Conditions are checked in your browser.
Sources
- Virginia DCR Natural Heritage rare plant list
- Digital Atlas of the Virginia Flora
- USDA PLANTS
- Vascular Plants of North Carolina (NC Natural Heritage Program)
- Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025)
- NatureServe Explorer
- Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
- Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Smith, Bachelder, Russell, Morales, Mosher & Seltmann 2024, Bee-Specialization-Modeling v0.6.1 (specialist host table compiled from J. Fowler's pollen specialist bee lists), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)
- Narango, Tallamy & Shropshire 2020, Few keystone plant genera support the majority of Lepidoptera species, Nature Communications