Parnassia glauca (Glacous Grass of Parnassus) - photos and description

 


 

 

General: Single, slender stems from a basal rosette. Plants glabrous.

Flowers: Flowers showy, single, terminal on long scapes, we measured a flower at 2.5 cm in diameter.

Leaves:  Mostly basal, ovate, thick and fleshy, glaucous. Leaves noticeably veined beneath. We measured a leaf at 6 cm long and 2 cm wide. Scapes occasionally with a single, clasping stem leaf.

Height: Budd's Flora lists height of flower stems to 40 cm. I measured plants to 34 cm tall.

Habitat: Fens and bogs in the boreal forest, often with limey soil.

Abundance: This plant is rare, ranked as an S3 (as of 2021) by the Saskatchewan Conservation Data Centre.

Origin: Native.

When and where photographed: The above photos were taken on July 16th and August 23rd, in a bog in east central Saskatchewan, 300 km NE of our home in Regina, SK.