Images: ©Jouko Lehmuskallio
Herb Bennet
Geum urbanum
- Synonym: Wood Avens
- Family: Rose Family – Rosaceae
- Growing form: Perennila rhizomatous herb. Rhizome erect, clove-scented.
- Height: 30–70 cm (12–28 in.). Stem erect, haiy.
- Flower: Regular (actinomorphic). Petals 5, pale yellow, 4–7 mm (ca. 0.15–0.3 in.) long, elliptic to narrowly obovate. Calyx-lobes 5, ca. 7 mm long, triangular, sharp-pointed, hairy, turned down already in flower. Epicalyx-lobes narrow, ca. 3 mm long. Stamens numerous. Carpels many, free, styles long, jointed, with hooked tip. Inflorescence a lax corymb.
- Leaves: Rosette leaves pinnate, hairy, long-stalked. Leaflets 3–9, lobed or toothed, greyish and with prominent veins on lower surface. Terminal leaflet large, stalked, and usu. palmately lobed. Stem leaves alternate, short-stalked, trifoliolate or three-lobed. Stipules large, leaflet-like, toothed.
- Fruit: An elliptic, hairy, and somewhat curved achene with a hooked apical bristle formed from the style.
- Habitat: Broadleaf woods, parks, gardens, waysides, forest margins.
- Flowering time: June–August.
The perennial herb Bennet, also known as wood avens, is a fairly demanding species of dryish sites. It has gained plenty of suitable habitats due to human disturbance. Every summer the rootstock produces a new leaf rosette with the help of which the plant winters. Flowering shoots are produced from the axillary buds of the rosette.
The hooked, hairy achene of this species readily attaches itself to animal fur or human clothes. Hence, the plant is often found along paths walked by its dispersers. In Europe, the clove-scented stock has been used against various ailments.
Herb Bennet frequently hybridises with the very common water avens (G. rivale). The offspring more closely resemble the latter.
