SAXIFRAGACEAE 



SAXIFRAGE FAMILY 



GRASS OF PARNASSUS 



Parnassia caroliniana Michx. 



The Grass of Parnassus is a pretty perennial herb which 

 grows in swamps and wet meadows from New Brunswick to 

 Manitoba and south to Virginia and Iowa. It is common in the 

 swampy parts of the Waukegan 

 flats along Lake Michigan and 

 in the bogs of Lake county but 

 is not found in the central and 

 southern parts of the state. 



The unbranched flowering 

 stem grows 6-24 inches high 

 and bears a single terminal 

 flower and i sessile clasping 

 leaf somewhat below the mid- 

 dle. There are also several 

 basal leaves on long petioles. 



The flower blooms from 

 July to September and pro- 

 duces an abundance of nectar. 

 The calyx is small and 5-lobed 

 nearly to the base. The 5 

 petals are white or creamy and 

 delicately veined with pale 

 green lines. Five fertile sta- 

 mens with rather large anthers 

 alternate with the petals, and 

 at the base of each petal is a 

 cluster of 3-^ imperfect sta- 

 mens, called staminodia, each 

 of which is tipped with a 

 nectar gland. The pistil consists of an ovary 

 and 4 stigmas but no style. It develops into 

 a capsule containingmany small, winged seeds. 



Beyond the queen hydrangeas splendid rule 

 Barbaric marigolds; chrysanthemums 

 Outshine gladioli, and sunflowers flaunt 

 Their crests of gold beneath the giant gourds. 

 The Garden in August — Gertrude Huntin'GTON' McGiffert 



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