Yellow avens is a native wildflower of moist meadows and woods across much of Canada and the U.S., with small, buttercup-like yellow flowers in early summer. After blooming it forms an oval, bristly seed head covered in tiny hooks that cling to clothing and animal fur. It is also called common avens.
Appearance
- Growth form
- An upright perennial 16–40 in (40–100 cm) tall, with coarse, bristly hairs.
- Leaves
- Basal leaves are compound, with a large end leaflet and 2–6 pairs of smaller side leaflets. Stem leaves alternate, are coarsely toothed, and have leafy where they join the stem.
- Flowers
- About ¾ in (1.5–2 cm) across, with 5 rounded yellow petals and many stamens that age to reddish brown. The 5 green sepals fold back as the flower matures.
- Flowering time
- June to July in Minnesota.
- Fruit
- A dry, oval seed head packed with hooked seeds.
Look-alikes
large-leaved avensGeum macrophyllum
Check the basal leaves: large-leaved avens has a big, rounded end leaflet, while yellow avens has a smaller, more diamond-shaped one.
Why they get mixed upFlowers, stem leaves, and stipules are nearly identical.
Where it lives
- Typical habitats
- moist meadows
- open woods
- thickets
- swamps
- Range
- Native from Alaska across western and southern Canada and most of the U.S., south to Mexico, though only scattered in the Southeast. It also grows across Europe and Asia.
- Preferred conditions
- Moist soil in full sun to part shade.
- Flowering
Flowers Jun–Jul
Flowers Jun–Jul
Life cycle
- Seed dispersal
- The hooks catch on passing animals and clothing, which carry the seeds away.
Name and classification
- About the name
- North American plants are often called subspecies (or variety) strictum, and some references list it separately from the Eurasian plants.
Conservation
- IUCN Red List
- NENot EvaluatedNot yet assessed
More species to explore
Record what you meet and build your own collection
Your photos are kept with their date and place, and you can fill regional albums one species at a time.