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Creeping Avens

Geum reptans

Creeping Avens
Photo: Sonja Kostevc, CC BY 2.5 si

Creeping avens is a low, mat-forming alpine perennial from high European mountains that spreads by runners and seed. It grows best in cool, open, well-drained rocky or gritty ground in full sun.

Family
Rosaceae (Rose family)
Grows as
Perennial
Light
Full sun, Part shade
Water
Water regularly in the growing season but let the soil dry slightly between waterings; avoid waterlogging.
Soil
Gritty, fast-draining mineral mix, such as sandy loam with added grit or stone.
Temperature
5–25 °C; hardy to well below freezing.
How easy
Easy
Native range
European Mts.
Climate
temperate

About

Geum reptans, the creeping avens, is a species of flowering plant in the genus Geum of the family Rosaceae native to some mountains of Central and Southeastern Europe. A long-lived perennial that reproduces both sexually and clonally, it has high phenotypic variation, but these variable traits do not appear to be adaptations to local conditions.

Where it grows

It grows in rock cracks, on moraines, in moist scree fields and atop mountain summits. It is widespread in the Alps, where it is typically found at elevations of 2,100–2,800 m (6,900–9,200 ft), though its altitudinal range varies: from 1,900 to 2,500 m (6,200 to 8,200 ft) in the Maritime Alps to as high as 3,800 m (12,500 ft) in the Graian Alps. It grows less extensively in the Black Forest of Germany, in some parts of the Carpathians (in the Tatras at elevations of 1440–2540 m), in the Rila and Pirin mountains of Bulgaria (at altitudes of 2300–2900 m), and in the Pindus, Korab, and Shar mountains of the Western Balkans.

Other Geum plants

Geum montanum · Scarlet Avens · Wood Avens · Avens · Appalachian barren strawberry · Waldsteinia ternata

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Geum reptans by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.

The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.

Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.

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