GRASS OF PARNASSUS, in botany, a small herbaceous plant, Parnassia palustris (family Saxifragaceae), found on wet moors and bogs in Great Britain but less common in the south. The white regular flower is ren dered very attractive by a circlet of scales, opposite the petals, each of which bears a fringe of delicate filaments ending in a yellow knob. These glisten in the sunshine and look like a drop of honey. Honey is secreted by the base of each of the scales.
There are about 25 species of Parnassia, found in north tem perate regions, but chiefly in mountain bogs. Besides P. palus tris, several other species occur in North America, mostly in the northern United States and