Aleutian or low avens

Dryas pentapetala Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 1: 501. 1753; Geum pentapetalum (Linnaeus) Makino

Leaves: stipules 2–6 mm; petiole 4–15 mm, proximally expanded and sheathing stems, sheath margins ciliate; leaflets proximally narrowly elliptic, 2–6 mm, margins entire or remotely toothed, distally obovate to rhombic, 8–12 mm, margins sharply lobed or toothed apically. Inflorescences: bracts 3-fid or linear, 6–10 mm; stipule present; petiole reduced to sheathing bases. Pedicels 2.5–8 cm, glabrate to puberulent proximally, puberulent to downy distally. Flowers erect; epicalyx bractlets sometimes 2-fid distally or divided nearly in 2, 3–4 mm; sepals 4–7 mm, margins entire; petals spreading, 7–11 mm, distinctly longer than sepals. 2n = 14.

Flowering summer. Moist tundra; 0–200[–2700] m; Alaska; e Asia (Japan, Russian Far East).

In North America Sieversia pentapetala is known only from the central Aleutian Islands. Japanese plants are somewhat larger overall than those of the Aleutians.