Wood Avens

Botanical Name:Geum urbanum.

The Latin name of the species “urbanum” means “of the city” referring to the plant’s liking for areas affected by human activity.

Other Common Names: Herb bennet, avens, city avens, European avens, way bennet, Bennet’s root, clove root, colewort, wild rye, benoîte (French), hierba de San Benito (Spanish), febernellikerod (Danish), Stadtnelkenwurz (German), kratthumleblom (Norwegian), nejlikrot (Swedish), kyläkellukka (Finnish).

Habitat: The species is native to Europe, western Asia, and North Africa. It was introduced early on in North America, where it soon became naturalized and formed natural hybrids with white avens (Geum canadense). Wood avens grows well in shady deciduous forests, along forest edges and near hedgerows, but it also thrives in landfills and other man-made areas such as parks and gardens. Wood avens is easy to grow. The plant likes full sun and does not make many…