Parnassia palustris

Marsh grass of parnassus

Family: Parnassiaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Marsh grass of parnassus is a California native perennial found in the Klamath Ranges, northern Coast Ranges, high Cascade Range, Sierra Nevada, San Francisco Bay Area, southern Coast Ranges, San Bernardino Mountains, and eastern Sierra Nevada in wet banks and meadows at elevations up to 3,600 meters. Flowering from July to October, this plant produces white flowers with delicate round-ovate petals 8 to 20 millimeters long, accompanied by distinctive thread-like staminodes with spherical tips. Growing with slender stems 15 to 47 centimeters tall, it forms graceful clumps in moist environments. Its leaves are lance-ovate, 2 to 5 centimeters long, with bases tapering to heart-shaped, creating a soft, elegant foliage. The plant bears small fruits 8 to 12 millimeters long, completing its seasonal growth cycle.

Habitat: Wet banks, meadows

Bloom period: Jul-Oct

Elevation: < 3600 m

Bioregions: KR, NCoRO, NCoRH, CaRH, SNH, SnFrB, SCoR, SnBr, SNE

California counties: Mendocino, Fresno, Tulare, Mono, Amador, Alpine, Del Norte, El Dorado, Lake, Madera, Marin, Tuolumne, Mariposa, Monterey, Placer, Plumas, Santa Cruz, Shasta, Tehama, Sierra, Sonoma, Trinity, Inyo, Nevada, San Benito, San Luis Obispo, Siskiyou, Butte, Humboldt

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.