Wetland Plants and Plant Communities of Minnesota and Wisconsin

GRASS-OF-PARNASSUS

(Parnassia glauca Raf.)


Grass-of-Parnassus
Grass-of-Parnassus

SAXIFRAGE FAMILY (Saxifragaceae)

IND. STATUS: OBL

FIELD CHARACTERISTICS: A perennial herb 15-30 cm. high. The stalked basal leaves are entire, smooth, rounded, and form a rosette. The stem leaf, if present, is stalkless and located at or below the middle of the stem. Flowers are white with five star-like, green-striped petals, and are solitary at the end of a single stem. The fruit is a conspicuous, terminal capsule. In flower from August to October.

ECOLOGICAL NOTES: Grass-of-Parnassus is a characteristic species of calcareous fens. It may also occur along calcareous shores and on wet lake dune flats if groundwater seepages are present.

SOURCE: Gleason and Cronquist (1991).


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