Prairie Smoke (Geum triflorum)
Logo of the Carden Field Naturalists
Perhaps the best known of the Carden Alvar plants, Prairie Smoke raises its mauve seed heads in drifts of "feather dusters" across the ground in June.The soft downy plumes contain seeds adapted to dispersal by the wind. Also known as Long-Plumed Purple Avens, its drooping reddish flowers develop earlier in May in clumps of four or five stems. Although widespread across the Canadian Prairies, it has a very restricted range in Ontario.
