avens

American  

[av-inz] / ˈæv ɪnz /

noun

plural

avens

1. any of various plants of the genus Geum, of the rose family, having yellow, white, or red flowers.

---

avens British  

/ ˈævɪnz /

noun

1. any of several temperate or arctic rosaceous plants of the genus Geum, such as G. rivale ( water avens ), which has a purple calyx and orange-pink flowers See also herb bennet

2. either of two trailing evergreen white-flowered rosaceous shrubs of the genus Dryas that grow on mountains in N temperate regions and in the Arctic

---

Etymology

Origin of avens

1200–50; Middle English avence < Old French < Medieval Latin avencia kind of clover

Example Sentences

Across the parking lot were bluebells, cottony willow plants, white-flowered Labrador tea, mountain avens and blue forget-me-nots.

From Washington Post • Apr. 7, 2016

Marsh sedge grew there, pink, sweet-scented valerian and the drooping water avens.

From "Watership Down: A Novel" by Richard Adams

Also meadow-sweet, meadow-rue, and comfrey of every shade of purple, the water avens and forget-me-not, also that loveliest plant the bog-bean, with trefoil leaves and feathery blossoms. 

From John Keble's Parishes by Yonge, Charlotte Mary

Geum, jē′um, n. a genus of perennial herbs, of order Rosace�, contains the avens or herb-bennet, &c.

From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 2 of 4: E-M) by Various

Common avens, or herb-bennet, G. urbānum, possesses astringent properties, and was formerly used in medicine.

From The New Gresham Encyclopedia. Vol. 1 Part 3 Atrebates to Bedlis by Various