Flora of North America species comparison

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Parnassia parviflora

small flower parnassia, small-flower grass-of-parnassus
Habit Herbs with caudices.
Stems

2–35 cm.
Leaves

basal in rosettes;

petiole 0.4–2 cm;

blade (of larger leaves) ovate to oblong, 6–35 × 5–25 mm, base cuneate to subcordate, apex rounded to subacute;

cauline on proximal 1/2 to middle of stem.
Flowers

sepals spreading in fruit, linear-lanceolate to oblong or elliptic-oblong, 3–6 mm, margins not hyaline, entire, apex obtuse;

petals 5–13-veined, oblong to elliptic, 3.5–10 × 4–6 mm, length 1.1–1.5 times sepals, base rounded to cuneate, margins entire;

stamens (2–)4–7 mm;

anthers 1–1.6 mm;

staminodes obovate, divided distally into 5–7(–9) gland-tipped filaments, (2–)3.5–5 mm, shorter than stamens, apical glands suborbicular, 0.2–0.3 mm;

ovary green.
Capsules

7–10 mm.
2n

= 36.

Parnassia parviflora
Phenology Flowering summer.
Habitat Wet, calcareous shores, meadows, fens, seepy scree slopes.
Elevation 10–2900 m. (0–9500 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
AK; AZ; CA; CO; ID; MI; MT; ND; NV; SD; UT; WA; WI; WY; AB; BC; MB; NL; NS; NU; ON; PE; QC; SK
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Parnassia parviflora has been included in P. palustris by some authors. Small-flowered plants of P. palustris usually have the staminodes divided into about nine filaments distally and the anthers exceed 1.5 mm, but rarely some plants cannot be clearly assigned to one or other of these species. In Nunavut, P. parviflora is known only from Akimiski Island in James Bay.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 12, p. 114.
Parent taxa Celastraceae > Parnassia
Sibling taxa
P. asarifolia, P. caroliniana, P. cirrata, P. fimbriata, P. glauca, P. grandifolia, P. kotzebuei, P. palustris
Synonyms P. palustris var. parviflora
Name authority de Candolle: in A. P. de Candolle and A. L. P. P. de Candolle, Prodr. 1: 320. (1824)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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