''Parnassia californica'' is a species of flowering plant in the family

Celastraceae The Celastraceae (staff-vine or bittersweet) are a family of 97 genera and 1,350 species of herbs, vines, shrubs and small trees, belonging to the order Celastrales. The great majority of the genera are tropical, with only ''Celastrus'' (the staf ...

known by the common name California grass of Parnassus. It is native to the mountains of

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, and

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

, where it grows in moist areas such as meadows and streambanks. It is a perennial herb producing an erect flowering stem from a patch of basal leaves. The leaf is up to 14 centimeters long with an oval or spoon-shaped blade at the end of a long petiole. The

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...

may be nearly half a meter tall and consists of a mostly naked peduncle with one bract midway up. The single flower has five small

sepal A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 The term ''sepalum'' was coined b ...

s behind five veined white petals each 1 to 2 centimeters long. At the center of the flower are five

stamen The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filame ...

s and five

staminode In botany, a staminode is an often rudimentary, sterile or abortive stamen, which means that it does not produce pollen.Jackson, Benjamin, Daydon; ''A Glossary of Botanic Terms with their Derivation and Accent''; Published by Gerald Duckworth & Co. ...

s with fringes of many hairlike, sphere-tipped lobes.

External links

Jepson Manual TreatmentPhoto gallery
californica Flora of California Flora of Nevada Flora of Oregon Flora of the Sierra Nevada (United States) Taxa named by Asa Gray Taxa named by Edward Lee Greene Flora without expected TNC conservation status {{Celastraceae-stub