Wildflower (forb) · Rosaceae
White avens
Geum canadense · includes its varieties and subspecies
White avens is recorded as native to 38 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 1,477 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
White avens at a glance
- Native in
- 1,477 counties, across 38 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 4a PLANTS minimum temperature −33°F
- Mature height
- 3.9 ft PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Tolerates shade Medium water use
Estimated cold hardiness: zone 4a. PLANTS gives a minimum temperature of −33°F; zone 4a winters bottom out at −30°F, the coldest half-zone that stays within that limit.
White avens is recorded as native to 38 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 1,477 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 1,477 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Alabama 2 counties
- Arkansas 46 counties
- Connecticut statewide record
- Delaware 2 counties
- District of Columbia 1 county
- Georgia 12 counties
- Illinois 102 counties
- Indiana 84 counties
- Iowa 27 counties
- Kansas 61 counties
- Kentucky 69 counties
- Louisiana 50 counties
- Maine 12 counties
- Massachusetts 14 counties
- Michigan 62 counties
- Minnesota 60 counties
- Mississippi 29 counties
- Missouri 111 counties
- Montana 2 counties
- Nebraska 29 counties
- New Hampshire 5 counties
- New Jersey 19 counties
- New York 45 counties
- North Carolina 69 counties
- North Dakota 23 counties
- Ohio 78 counties
- Oklahoma 31 counties
- Pennsylvania 67 counties
- Rhode Island 5 counties
- South Carolina 22 counties
- South Dakota 12 counties
- Tennessee 63 counties
- Texas 55 counties
- Vermont 11 counties
- Virginia 93 counties
- West Virginia 46 counties
- Wisconsin 56 counties
- Wyoming 2 counties
Growing traits
Values from the PLANTS characteristics record. “Not recorded” means PLANTS has no value; nothing here is estimated except the zone.
Growth
- Growth habit
- Forb/herb
- Duration
- Perennial
- Mature height
- 3.9 ft
- Growth rate
- Moderate
- Growth form
- Single Stem
- Shape
- Erect
- Lifespan
- Short
- Active growth period
- Spring
Light and water
- Shade tolerance
- Tolerant (tolerates shade)
- Moisture use
- Medium water use
- Drought tolerance
- Low
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- None
- Precipitation range
- 15 to 60 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Coarse, medium and fine
- pH range
- 4.5 to 7.5
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- Medium
- Salinity tolerance
- None
- Fertility requirement
- Medium
- Minimum root depth
- 4 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- −33°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 4a and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 140
- Fire tolerance
- None
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- White
- Showy flowers
- No
- Bloom period
- Spring
- Foliage color
- Green
- Showy in fall
- No
- Keeps leaves
- No
- Fruit color
- Brown
Other
- Toxicity
- None
- Nitrogen fixation
- None
- Nursery availability
- No Known Source
- Family
- Rosaceae
- PLANTS symbol
- GECA7
Source & data date
- Source
- USDA NRCS PLANTS Database: county distribution records, native status and plant characteristics. CC0 (public domain dedication, per the data.gov catalog record).
- Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP): native or introduced status by state. CC BY 3.0.
- USGS US-RIIS (ver. 2.0): species listed as introduced are excluded. CC0.
- Citation
- USDA, NRCS. 2026. The PLANTS Database (https://plants.usda.gov, 11/04/2026). National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC USA.
- Govaerts R. (ed.) (2026). WCVP: World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Data file dated 2026-06-04, http://sftp.kew.org/pub/data-repositories/WCVP/ (retrieved 2026-11-04). Paper: Govaerts R. et al. (2021) The World Checklist of Vascular Plants, a continuously updated resource for exploring global plant diversity. Scientific Data 8, 215.
- Data date
- Retrieved from PLANTS on November 4, 2026; WCVP data file dated June 4, 2026.
- Scope
- Geum canadense (PLANTS symbol GECA7), including 1 variety or subspecies folded into the species.
- Method
- A species is listed when it is recorded as native to the state in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in the county by USDA PLANTS. Species PLANTS labels both native and introduced are listed separately. Full method · All sources