Al Schneider's Rocky Mountains Plant Descriptions

Fringed Grass Of Parnassus
Parnassia fimbriata
Bittersweet family (Celastraceae)

Fringed Grass-of-Parnassus is the most abundant of three Parnassia species that occur in the our area. Small-flowered Grass-of-Parnassus (P. parviflora) differs from Fringed Grass of Parnassus in having smooth, not fringed, petal margins; in having leaf rather than heart-shaped; and in having the stem leaf below the middle. The third species, P. Kotzebuei, is rare in Colorado (and over much of its mountainous range) and differs from the other two species in having no leaf on its stem, much smaller petals, and these with only 1-3 veins (versus 5-13 veins on the other two species).

The common and scientific name come from Mount Parnassus in Greece where the plant was first described in the 1st century AD. In ancient Greece. Mount Parnassus was sacred to Apollo and home of the Muses.


©2014 Susan McDougall, Trees Live Here., Steve
Sullivan

Description

, 8-14" tall, with slender, hairless, unbranched stems. A single white star-like flower with 5 petals tops the stem. Petals marked with 5-7 green-yellow veins, and lower edges delicately fringed. Five fertile (white and -tipped) alternate with 5 sterile yellow . Leaves are , heart- to kidney-shaped, glossy on short . A single heart-shaped leaf clasps the stem at its midpoint.

Field Marks

White 5-petaled flower with green veins and hairs near base; single heart-shaped leaf midway on stem.

© Al Schneider

stamen -- the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower; The stamen consists of an anther supported by a filament.

A perennial plant lives and blooms for many years.

A herb is a plant whose stems die back to the ground in the winter.

basal -- at the base, situated or attached at the base.

The anther is a pad at the end of the stamen that holds the pollen.

obtuse -- Rounded and blunt. An angle greater than 90 degrees but less than 180 degrees.

petiole -- the stalk of a leaf.

genus -- A subdivision of a botanical Family in which all members have a significant number of similar characteristics.

blade -- Just the flat part of a leaf. Not the stem.