Parnassia

{{Short description|Genus of flowering plants}} {{For|the butterfly genus|Parnassius}} {{Redirect|Grass of Parnassus|the book of poetry|Andrew Lang}} {{Automatic taxobox | image = DwNorthernGrassofParnassus.jpg | image_caption = ''Parnassia palustris'' | taxon = Parnassia | authority = L. | subdivision_ranks = Species | subdivision = About 50<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=5&taxon_id=20220 | work = Flora of Pakistan | title = Parnassiaceae }}</ref>–70<ref>{{cite web | title = Parnassia | url = http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=124074 | work = Flora of China }}</ref> | synonyms = ''Enneadynamis'' {{small|Bubani}} | synonyms_ref = <ref name = powo>{{cite web |title=''Parnassia'' L. |url=https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:30003318-2 |website=Plants of the World Online |publisher=Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew |access-date=1 April 2026}}</ref> }}

The genus '''''Parnassia''''', also known as '''grass of Parnassus''' or '''bog-stars''', are flowering plants now placed in the family Celastraceae,<ref name=GRIN>{{cite web | url=http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/genus.pl?8907 | title=''Parnassia'' L. | access-date=8 January 2015| work=Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN)|publisher=United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Beltsville Area}}</ref><ref name="ITIS">{{ITIS|ID=ID=24203|taxon=''Parnassia''}}</ref> formerly classified in Parnassiaceae or Saxifragaceae. The plants occur in arctic and alpine habitats, as well as in dune systems and fens, swamps, wet meadows, open seepage areas, moist woods, and across the Northern Hemisphere. It is actually not a grass, but an herbaceous dicot. The stalk of the plant can reach up to {{convert|8|in|mm|sp=us|order=flip}}, the leaves up to {{convert|4|in|mm|sp=us|order=flip|abbr=on|-1}} and the petals can be up to {{convert|1.4|in|mm|order=flip|abbr=on}} wide. The flower has five white petals with light green venation. There are five stamens alternating with 5 much divided staminodes tipped with drop-like false nectaries<ref name="Stace-2019">{{cite book|last=Stace|first=C. A.|author-link = Stace, C. A.|year=2019|title=New Flora of the British Isles|edition=Fourth|publisher=C & M Floristics|location = Middlewood Green, Suffolk, U.K.| isbn=978-1-5272-2630-2}}</ref>{{rp|322}} which (along with the visual cue of veins) attract pollinating flies and bees.

Some species are often found in wet calcareous habitats with low fertility, low canopy cover, and high plant diversity.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Moore|first1=Dwayne R. J.|last2=Keddy|first2=Paul A.|title=The relationship between species richness and standing crop in wetlands: the importance of scale|journal=Vegetatio|date=1988|volume=79|issue=1–2|pages=99–106|doi=10.1007/BF00044853|jstor=20038396}}</ref> ''Parnassia glauca'' is considered to be an indicator species of fens in New York State.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Godwin|first1=Kevin S.|last2=Shallenberger|first2=James P.|last3=Leopold|first3=Donald J.|last4=Bedford|first4=Barbara L.|title=Linking landscape properties to local hydrogeologic gradients and plant species occurrence in minerotrophic fens of New York State, USA: A Hydrogeologic Setting (HGS) framework|journal=Wetlands|date=December 2002|volume=22|issue=4|pages=722–737|doi=10.1672/0277-5212(2002)022[0722:LLPTLH]2.0.CO;2}}</ref> Such habitats are often becoming rare, and so species of ''Parnassia'' may have high conservation value. For example ''Parnassia palustris'' is threatened and legally protected in Michigan<ref>{{cite web |url=http://mnfi.anr.msu.edu/explorer/species.cfm?id=14896 |title=Parnassia palustris (Marsh grass-of-parnassus) - MNFI Rare Species Explorer |website=Mnfi.anr.msu.edu |date= |author=Michigan Natural Features Inventory |access-date= March 1, 2015}}</ref> while ''Parnassia caroliniana'' is considered imperiled in North Carolina.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ncwildflower.org/index.php/plant_galleries/details/parnassia-caroliniana |title=Plant Details - Parnassia caroliniana |website=NCwildflower.org |date= |author=North Carolina Native Plant Society |access-date= March 1, 2015}}</ref>

==Culture==

Parnassus flowers are the symbol of the Clan MacLea, also known as the highland Livingstone clan, and said to be the favorite flower of St. Moluag, the Irish missionary whose staff the clan chiefs hold.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.clanmclea.co.uk/Warrant.htm |title=Warrant for Letters Patent |website=Clanmclea.co.uk |date= |first=Clan |last=MacLea |access-date=March 1, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928091006/http://www.clanmclea.co.uk/Warrant.htm |archive-date=September 28, 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Three Grass of Parnassus flowers appear on the Flag of Cumberland, a British county, since that flower grows on Cumberland's lofty fells.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.civicheraldry.co.uk/cumberland.html |title=Civic Heraldry of England and Wales - Cumberland |website=Civicheraldry.co.uk |date= |first=Robert |last=Young |access-date= March 1, 2015}}</ref>

==Species== 55 species are accepted.<ref name = powo/> {{div col}} * ''Parnassia alpicola'' {{small|Makino}} * ''Parnassia amoena'' {{small|Diels}} * ''Parnassia asarifolia'' {{small|Vent.}} * ''Parnassia bifolia'' {{small|Nekr.}} * ''Parnassia cabulica'' {{small|Planch. ex C.B.Clarke}} * ''Parnassia cacuminum'' {{small|Hand.-Mazz.}} * ''Parnassia caroliniana'' {{small|Michx.}} * ''Parnassia chinensis'' {{small|Franch.}} * ''Parnassia cirrata'' {{small|Piper}} * ''Parnassia cooperi'' {{small|W.E.Evans}} * ''Parnassia crassifolia'' {{small|Franch.}} * ''Parnassia davidii'' {{small|Franch.}} * ''Parnassia delavayi'' {{small|Franch.}} * ''Parnassia epunctulata'' {{small|J.T.Pan}} * ''Parnassia esquirolii'' {{small|H.Lév.}} * ''Parnassia faberi'' {{small|Oliv.}} * ''Parnassia farreri'' {{small|W.E.Evans}} * ''Parnassia filchneri'' {{small|Ulbr.}} * ''Parnassia fimbriata'' {{small|K.D.Koenig}} * ''Parnassia foliosa'' {{small|Hook.f. & Thomson}} * ''Parnassia gansuensis'' {{small|T.C.Ku}} * ''Parnassia glauca'' {{small|Raf.}} * ''Parnassia grandifolia'' {{small|DC.}} * ''Parnassia guilinensis'' {{small|G.Z.Li & S.C.Tang}} * ''Parnassia kotzebuei'' {{small|Cham. ex Spreng.}} * ''Parnassia kumaonica'' {{small|Nekr.}} * ''Parnassia labiata'' {{small|C.P.Tsien}} * ''Parnassia laxmannii'' {{small|Pall. ex Schult.}} * ''Parnassia longipetala'' {{small|Hand.-Mazz.}} * ''Parnassia lutea'' {{small|Batalin}} * ''Parnassia monochorifolia'' {{small|Franch.}} * ''Parnassia mysorensis'' {{small|B.Heyne ex Wight & Arn.}} * ''Parnassia noemiae'' {{small|Franch.}} * ''Parnassia nubicola'' {{small|Wall. ex Royle}} * ''Parnassia obovata'' {{small|Hand.-Mazz.}} * ''Parnassia omeiensis'' {{small|T.C.Ku}} * ''Parnassia oreophila'' {{small|Hance}} * ''Parnassia palustris'' {{small|L.}} (syn. ''Parnassia californica'' {{small|(A.Gray) Greene}}) * ''Parnassia parviflora'' {{small|DC.}} * ''Parnassia perciliata'' {{small|Diels}} * ''Parnassia procul'' {{small|H.Turner & Veldkamp}} * ''Parnassia pseudoalpicola'' {{small|(Vorosch. & Makarov) A.E.Kozhevn. & Kozhevnikova}} * ''Parnassia pusilla'' {{small|Wall.}} * ''Parnassia rhombipetala'' {{small|B.L.Chai}} * ''Parnassia scaposa'' {{small|Mattf.}} * ''Parnassia simianshanensis'' {{small|M.X.Ren, J.Zhang & Z.Y.Liu}} * ''Parnassia submysorensis'' {{small|J.T.Pan}} * ''Parnassia tenella'' {{small|Hook.f. & Thomson}} * ''Parnassia townsendii'' {{small|B.L.Rob.}} * ''Parnassia trinervis'' {{small|Drude}} * ''Parnassia wightiana'' {{small|Wall. ex Wight & Arn.}} * ''Parnassia xinganensis'' {{small|C.Z.Gao & G.Z.Li}} * ''Parnassia yui'' {{small|C.P.Tsien}} * ''Parnassia yunnanensis'' {{small|Franch.}} * ''Parnassia zhengyuana'' {{small|M.X.Ren & J.Zhang}} {{div col end}} [[Image:Parnassia parviflora.jpg|thumb|right|''Parnassia parviflora'']]

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== {{Commons category}} *[http://plants.usda.gov/plant-profile?symbol=PARNA ''Parnassia'' entry at USDA PLANTS database]

Category:Parnassia Category:Celastraceae genera Category:Plants described in 1753 Category:Botanical taxa named by Carl Linnaeus