Sieversia

a genus of plants of the family Rosaceae. The genus is sometimes included in the genus Geum, to which it is closely related. The plants are low shrubs or shrublets. The basal leaves are lyrate, oddly pinnatipartite, oddly pinnatisect, or pinnate. The stem leaves are most often reduced; the stipules are usually large. There are several species (according to some data, as many as 25), distributed in the northern temperate and arctic zones of both hemispheres. The USSR has two species, which are found predominantly in the Far East. Usually assigned to the genus is S. glacialis (sometimes classified in a separate genus—Novosieversia). This plant, a beautiful, gorgeously flowering arctic herbaceous perennial, is found in the USSR from Western Siberia to Kamchatka. Its large (about 3.5 cm across) solitary yellow flowers open at high elevations when there is still snow in the valleys. The stems and leaves are eaten by lemmings.