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Western Wetland Flora

Field Office Guide to Plant Species

Northern Grass-of-Parnassus
Parnassia palustris L.

JPG -- Species Photo JPG -- Distribution Map

Family: Saxifrage (Saxifragaceae)
Flowering: July-October
Field Marks: This species differs from others in the genus by its unfringed petals that have 3-13 veins.
Habitat: Wet meadows and other moist places.
Habit: Perennial herb with short rootstocks.
Stems: Upright, slender, unbranched, up to 1 1/2 feet tall, smooth, bearing a single leaf (often called a bract) about 1/3 the way up the stem.
Leaves: All basal except for the single, ovate, sessile leaf (or bract) about 1/3 way up the stem; basal leaves ovate, heart-shaped to tapering to the base, up to 1 1/2 inches long, smooth, without teeth, on stalks up to 4 inches long.
Flowers: Solitary on the stem, up to 1 inch across.
Sepals: 5, green, united below to form a short floral tube, lanceolate to ovate, pointed at the tip, 1/4-1/2 inch long, with 5-7 veins.
Petals: 5, white, free from each other, ovate to obovate, up to 1/2 inch long, not fringed, with 3-13 veins.
Stamens: 5 fertile, with many sterile stamens present consisting of slender, gland-tipped filaments up to 1/3 inch long.
Pistils: Ovary more or less superior or slightly inferior.
Fruits: Capsules ovoid, up to 1/2 inch long, subtended by the persistent sepals, with numerous tiny, angular seeds.

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Return to Species List -- Group 8
Next Species -- Elephant's-head Lousewort (Pedicularis groenlandica)

U.S. Department of the Interior | U.S. Geological Survey
URL: http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/plants/florawe/species/8/parnpalu.htm
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Page Last Modified: Saturday, 02-Feb-2013 06:28:12 EST
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