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Rosaceae FAMILY

Geum urbanum

Geum urbanum

Edibility
3/5
Medicinal
3/5

Safety & Hazards

None known

Cultivation Details

HabitPerennial
Growth—

Easily grown in any moderately good garden soil that is well-drained[1]. Prefers shade[2, 3] and a soil rich in organic matter[4]. This species was widely cultivated as a pot-herb in the 16th century[5]. The bruised or dried root is pleasantly aromatic with a clove-like fragrance[6]. Plants self-sow freely when well-sited[7]. Hybridizes freely with other members of this genus[4].

Propagation

Seed - sow spring or autumn in a cold frame[4]. When they are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and plant them out in the summer' Division in spring or autumn. This should be done every 3 - 4 years in order to maintain the vigour of the plant[4]. Very easy, larger clumps can be replanted direct into their permanent positions, though it is best to pot up smaller clumps and grow them on in a cold frame until they are rooting well. Plant them out in the spring. Cite as: Temperate Plants Database, Ken Fern. temperate.theferns.info. 2026-02-21. <temperate.theferns.info/plant/Geum+urbanum>

Pollinators

Bees, Self

References

  1. [1]RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 — F. Chittendon. · Oxford University Press · 1951 · ISBN - ↩︎Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaced in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [ 200 ]).
  2. [2]Britain's Wild Larder. — Loewenfeld. C. and Back. P. · David & Charles; Newton Abbot. · ISBN 0-7153-7971-2 ↩︎A handy pocket guide.
  3. [3]The Herb Book. — Lust. J. · Bantam books · 1983 · ISBN 0-553-23827-2 ↩︎Lots of information tightly crammed into a fairly small book.
  4. [4]The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. — Huxley. A. · MacMillan Press · 1992 · ISBN 0-333-47494-5 ↩︎Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.
  5. [5]Food for Free. — Mabey. R. · Collins · 1974 · ISBN 0-00-219060-5 ↩︎Edible wild plants found in Britain. Fairly comprehensive, very few pictures and rather optimistic on the desirability of some of the plants.
  6. [6]Scented Flora of the World. — Genders. R. · Robert Hale. London. · 1994 · ISBN 0-7090-5440-8 ↩︎An excellent, comprehensive book on scented plants giving a few other plant uses and brief cultivation details. There are no illustrations.
  7. [7]Encyclopaedia of Herbs and their Uses. — Bown. D. · Dorling Kindersley, London. · 1995 · ISBN 0-7513-020-31 ↩︎A very well presented and informative book on herbs from around the globe. Plenty in it for both the casual reader and the serious student. Just one main quibble is the silly way of having two separate entries for each plant.
  8. [8]Edible and Medicinal Plants. — Launert. E. · Hamlyn · 1981 · ISBN 0-600-37216-2 ↩︎Covers plants in Europe. a drawing of each plant, quite a bit of interesting information.
  9. [9]Hamlyn Encyclopaedia of Plants. — Triska. Dr. · Hamlyn · 1975 · ISBN 0-600-33545-3 ↩︎Very interesting reading, giving some details of plant uses and quite a lot of folk-lore.
  10. [10]Flora of the British Isles. — Clapham, Tutin and Warburg. · Cambridge University Press · 1962 · ISBN - ↩︎A very comprehensive flora, the standard reference book but it has no pictures.
  11. [11]A Modern Herbal. — Grieve. · Penguin · 1984 · ISBN 0-14-046-440-9 ↩︎Not so modern (1930's?) but lots of information, mainly temperate plants.
  12. [12]Free for All. — Ceres. · Thorsons Publishers · 1977 · ISBN 0-7225-0445-4 ↩︎Edible wild plants in Britain. Small booklet, nothing special.
  13. [13]Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. — Facciola. S. · Kampong Publications · 1990 · ISBN 0-9628087-0-9 ↩︎Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.
  14. [14]Flora of the USSR. — Komarov. V. L. · Israel Program for Scientific Translation · 1968 · http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org · ISBN - ↩︎An immense (25 or more large volumes) and not yet completed translation of the Russian flora. Full of information on plant uses and habitats but heavy going for casual readers. It can be downloaded from the Internet.
  15. [15]Food Plants of the N. American Indians. — Yanovsky. E. · U.S. Depf of Agriculture. · ISBN - ↩︎A comprehensive but very terse guide. Not for the casual reader.
  16. [16]The Encyclopedia of Medicinal Plants — Chevallier. A. · Dorling Kindersley. London · 1996 · ISBN 9-780751-303148 ↩︎An excellent guide to over 500 of the more well known medicinal herbs from around the world.
  17. [17]The Dictionary of Modern Herbalism. — Mills. S. Y. ↩︎An excellent small herbal.
  18. [18]The Wild Garden. — De. Bray. L. ↩︎Interesting reading.