Common Name: GRASS-OF-PARNASSUS FAMILY
Habit: Perennial herb from caudex or rhizome [annual], generally glabrous, often with +- red marks on leaves, flowers when dry. Stem: scape with generally 1 leaf-like bract [scape 0]. Leaf: simple, basal [cauline], alternate [subopposite], generally petioled, often with +- red marks when dry; veins +- palmate. Inflorescence: 1-flowered [cyme]. Flower: generally bisexual, +- radial; hypanthium minute, free from ovary; calyx lobes generally 5; petals generally 5 [0], free, generally white; stamens generally 5, opposite sepals; staminodes generally 5, alternate stamens, lobes generally present, thread-like to oblong, gland-tipped; pistil 1, ovary superior, chamber +- 1, placentas 4 [3], axile below, parietal above, styles very short, stigmas [3]4. Fruit: [3]4-valved capsule. Seed: many, winged, netted.
Genera In Family: 2 genera, +- 70 species: northern temperate, low arctic, alpine, temp South America (Lepuropetalon, Parnassia). Note: Formerly included in Saxifragaceae.
eFlora Treatment Author: Peter W. Ball
Scientific Editor: Thomas J. Rosatti.