Grass of Parnassus

(Parnassia glauca)

 

   

 

 

Color Photograph: Copyright Corel Corp.

Line Drawing: Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913. An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States and Canada, Second Edition.

 

Grass of Parnassus (Parnassia glauca Raf.)

Identification: Flowers white with 5 petals, petals with green veins. Flowers solitary on a long flower stalk. Flower stalk with a single, median, ovate leaf wrapping around the stem at its base. Other leaves in a basal rosette, kidney-shaped with long petioles and smooth outer margins.

Distribution: Canada and southward to Iowa and Illinois in the west and Pennsylvania in the east.

Habitat: Grass of Parnassus is found in wet meadows.

Flowering period: July to October.

Similar Species: There are several closely related species of the genus. See technical manuals for more information.

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