Wildflower (forb) · Rosaceae
Old man's whiskers
Geum triflorum
Old man's whiskers is recorded as native to 18 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 368 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
Old man's whiskers at a glance
- Native in
- 368 counties, across 18 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 3b PLANTS minimum temperature −38°F
- Mature height
- 1.5 ft PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Sun to part shade Medium water use
Estimated cold hardiness: zone 3b. PLANTS gives a minimum temperature of −38°F; zone 3b winters bottom out at −35°F, the coldest half-zone that stays within that limit.
Old man's whiskers is recorded as native to 18 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 368 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 368 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Arizona 4 counties
- California 12 counties
- Colorado 31 counties
- Idaho 25 counties
- Illinois 9 counties
- Michigan 6 counties
- Minnesota 58 counties
- Montana 38 counties
- Nevada 5 counties
- New Mexico 7 counties
- New York 2 counties
- North Dakota 37 counties
- Oregon 19 counties
- South Dakota 12 counties
- Utah 22 counties
- Washington 19 counties
- Wisconsin 42 counties
- Wyoming 20 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
- 1.5 ft
- Growth rate
- Moderate
- Growth form
- Rhizomatous
- Shape
- Erect
- Lifespan
- Short
- Active growth period
- Spring and Summer
Light and water
- Shade tolerance
- Intermediate (sun to part shade)
- Moisture use
- Medium water use
- Drought tolerance
- High
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- None
- Precipitation range
- 16 to 40 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Medium
- pH range
- 6 to 7.5
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- High
- Salinity tolerance
- None
- Fertility requirement
- Medium
- Minimum root depth
- 6 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- −38°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 3b and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 100
- Fire tolerance
- Medium
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- Purple
- Showy flowers
- Yes
- Bloom period
- Late Summer
- Foliage color
- Green
- Showy in fall
- No
- Keeps leaves
- No
- Fruit color
- Brown
Other
- Toxicity
- None
- Nitrogen fixation
- None
- Nursery availability
- Contracting Only
- Family
- Rosaceae
- PLANTS symbol
- GETR
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 triflorum (PLANTS symbol GETR).
- 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