Marsh Grass of Parnassus
size:
15 to 30 centimeters
color:
flowers: white
blossoms:
July till October
pollination:
pollination by insects, particularly flies
reproduction:
seeds spread by wind
life span:
perennial
- Dut: Parnassia
- Lat: Parnassia palustris
- Eng: Marsh (Northern) Grass of Parnassus, bog-star
- Fren: Parnassie
- Ger: Sumpf-Herzblatt (Studentenröschen)
- Dan: Almindelig leverurt
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- Grass of Parnassus, Foto Fitis, www.fotofitis.nl
Marsh Grass of Parnassus
There is something magical about Marsh grass of Parnassus. Maybe because of its beautiful pure white flowers intersected with decorative green veins. Or because it was once so common in the Netherlands but is now so rare. Nowadays, it is legally protected in this country. The name itself is majestic, named after the Greek mountain Parnassus which was dedicated to the god Apollo. Marsh grass of Parnassus grows in clumps, each plant producing one flower flaunting at the top of a long bare stem.
- Exceptionally attractive
Marsh grass of Parnassus must be pollinated with pollen from other plants. To accomplish this, it has decorative yet infertile stamens for attracting insects. At first, the five fertile (male) stamens are bent one over the other above (female) stigma. As soon as the flower opens, the insects land on the bent stamens in their attempt to reach the nectar located at the base of the infertile stamens. The top stamen releases its pollen onto the insect, bends open and falls off. The stamen next to the ripe one does the same within a day or two, followed by the other three. There is always a specific sequence, either clockwise or counter-clockwise. Based upon the number of stamen open or bent, you can tell how many days the flower been blossoming.
The stigma becomes exposed as soon as all of the stamens have broken off. It can no longer be pollinated by its own pollen. The next insect to land pollinates the plant.
- Exceptionally attractive
- Grass of Parnassus, Sytske Dijksen, www.fotofitis.nl
Marsh grass of Parnassus must be pollinated with pollen from other plants. To accomplish this, it has decorative yet infertile stamens for attracting insects. At first, the five fertile (male) stamens are bent one over the other above (female) stigma. As soon as the flower opens, the insects land on the bent stamens in their attempt to reach the nectar located at the base of the infertile stamens. The top stamen releases its pollen onto the insect, bends open and falls off. The stamen next to the ripe one does the same within a day or two, followed by the other three. There is always a specific sequence, either clockwise or counter-clockwise. Based upon the number of stamen open or bent, you can tell how many days the flower been blossoming.
The stigma becomes exposed as soon as all of the stamens have broken off. It can no longer be pollinated by its own pollen. The next insect to land pollinates the plant.
- Distribution and habitat
- Close-up grass of parnassia, Foto Fitis, www.fotofitis.nl
Marsh grass of Parnassus grows in cold moderate regions in the northern hemisphere, on damp nutrient-poor soils, such as young dune slacks and barren grasslands. The plant used to be very common throughout the Netherlands, but is now only found in larger amounts on the Wadden Islands and locally in the southwestern delta region.
See also
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