Edible plant - novice Season - All year. Flowers: summer Common names Wood avens, clove root, Bennet's root, old man's whiskers, colewort, herb Bennet, and St Benedict’s herb
Scientific name meaning: Geum has its origins in the Greek word Geno, which means pleasant fragrance. The species name Urbanum means of the city, as it is a very common urban plant
Habitat  Wood avens prefers well-drained but moist soil and can be found in woodland and gardens. It will grow in either full light or semi-shade. |
Overall structure  It has basal rosette of strawberry-like leaves. In sumer it throws up a thin flower stalk that can reach 50cm. |
Leaves  The basal leaves are pinnate with oval side leaflets and a three-lobed terminal leaflet. The leaves have large stipules at their base. The flower stalk leaves can be either trifoliate or three-lobed. |
Stem  The flower stems appear in late summer. They are hairy and can reach 50cm tall. |
Flowers  The yellow flowers have five petals and the sepals can be seen in between them. Numerous external reproductive parts are visible in the centre of the floweer. |
Fruit  The fruit consists of numerous achenes. it has hook-like structures to enable dispersal by clinging to animal fur. |
Possible lookalikes  Both water avens (Geum rivale), pictured, and wild strawberries (Fragaria spp) look similar to wood avens. However, water avens has a more bell-shaped flower and the flowers of strawberry are white or pink.
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Use as a food The young leaves and the root can be cooked and eaten, while the roots can be used as a flavouring in drinks, syrups, preserves and stews. The root contain eugenol and taste and smell similar to cloves. The best time to harvest wood avens for eating is believed to be springtime Use in herbal medicine and medicine Wood avens contains genine, geoside and eugenol, the latter of which is also found in cloves. With that in mind, it is unsurprising it has been used, like cloves, to treat oral pain, such as toothache.
In addition, it has been used as an antiseptic, styptic, anti-inflammatory, astringent, digestive aid, and to treat dog bites, liver disease, chest infections, mouth ulcers, toothache, halitosis, heart disease and all manner of digestive problems
If you are suffering from any ailment or need medical advice, please see your General Practitioner.
Hazards Excessive consumption can cause intestinal problems
Other uses Has been used to repel moths from clothes and to ward off evil spirits, snakes and rabid dogs Importance to other species As well as providing a food source for pollinators, the caterpillar of the grizzled skipper butterfly feeds on wood avens
Always stay safe when foraging. You need to be 100% sure of your identification, 100% sure that your foraged item is edible, and 100% sure that you are not allergic to it (it is good practice to always try a small amount of any new food you are consuming). If in doubt, leave it out!
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