Syn.: Enneadynamis polonorum Bubani
Family: Celastraceae R. Br.

Parnassia palustris

Distribution: Northern and Central Europe, Northern Africa, Asia Minor, Caucasus, Siberia, Central and Eastern Asia (Kazakhstan, Kashmir, Japan, Korea, Chinese provinces of Hebei, Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning, Nei Mongol, Ningxia, Shanxi, Xinjiang), and Alaska.

Ecology: Grows in damp meadows, on heaths and moors, wet rocks, from foothills to mountains, in China up to an elevation of about 2200 m. Flowers from July to September.

Description: Perennial herb with an erect and unbranched stem, 10–25(–40) cm tall. The basal leaves are long-petiolate, cordate, on stem one sessile leaf. The flower is terminal, pentamerous, white. The fruit is a capsule.

Threat and protection: Species is strictly protected in some countries (CH, CZ, D, HU).

Note: The genus Parnassia contains about 70 species from temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere (mainly in southern and southeastern Asia).

Parnassia palustrisParnassia palustris
Parnassia palustrisParnassia palustris
Parnassia palustris

These images were taken in Czechia, Hrubý Jeseník, Velká kotlina (July 10 and September 5, 2003).