Why enigmatic and misnamed 'grass of Parnassus' must be saved for Scotland

A native of the wild and wet, ‘grass of Parnassus’ is not for the unadventurous. Explore the wet pastures and moorlands of Sutherland, the damp grasslands and roadsides of Argyll or the Hebridean machair in July or August and you’ll find it.

From a distance, it seems an unremarkable single flower that only grows to about 25cm. But get up close and you appreciate the sophisticated charm of this beautiful plant. Its cupped white petals are laced with translucent green veins surrounding the gold stigma and stamens, producing a fresh beauty worthy of the coolest Scandinavian design schemes. Its understated charm, and the fact it grows in amazing places, makes this one of my favourite plants.

While its name, Parnassia palustris, conjures up much more sunlit habitats and it does grow in the Greek mountains, it is rare in the south of Europe. It is much more a circumboreal plant and although it was once common throughout the UK, it is now restricted to Scotland, northern England and north Wales.

Grass of Parnassus needs wet conditions to thrive and prefers cattle to sheep | Dr Deborah Long

‘Hay-making flower’

Named by Linnaeus, he may have been making a link between the beauty of the flower and the home of Apollo. The plant has also inspired poetry. Poet Andrew Lang has described how it provides an evocative signal for autumn. Indeed, this is the origin of the much more practical Swedish name for the plant, Slåtterblomma, meaning hay-making flower, as it acts as a visual indication of when to bring in the harvest.

But it’s more than a signal, as the plant is said to have medicinal qualities. The charity Plants for A Future describes its traditional medicinal uses, including as a mouthwash to treat stomatitis, distilled as an astringent eye lotion, and dried and powered to treat wounds. Other references indicate it was once used to treat disorders of the liver and indigestion. When added to wine or water, the leaves were also claimed to dissolve kidney stones.

However, of my ‘go to’ references for plant use in Scotland – Tess Darwin (A Scottish Herbal), Milliken and Bridgewater (Flora Celtica) and Mary Beith’s Healing Herbs – none record any uses for grass of Parnassus in Scotland. As a fairly frequent and easily found plant, I’m pretty sure it would have been used.

It’s another reason why I find this plant so intriguing: there is more to rediscover about it. As with so many native plants, our links to them in terms of value and use are being lost.

Listed as of least concern in the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List and on the UK Red List, this is because it is widespread with stable populations in parts of its range, which means the risk of it going extinct in Europe is considered low. It is, nonetheless, continuing to decline and, in some parts of Europe, it is classed as threatened and as such local conservation measures are required.

Maintaining the right habitat

Even in the UK where grass of Parnassus is still relatively widespread in the north, the species has continued to show a marked decline in the southern part of its range in Britain. Drainage, eutrophification (over-enrichment with nutrients), and the succession of fenland have led to its decline.

In the north and north west of Britain and in Ireland, it appears to be stable. However, there are a lack of records for the plant in northern Scotland, for reasons that are not clear.

Conservation measures are key to prevent its range from contracting further. There are conservation actions rooted in habitat management and protection: unless we retain and manage the habitats it needs, it will continue to decline.

Alongside the other plants it is often found with – such as autumn and rough hawkbit, bog pimpernel, meadowsweet, red cover, and yellow iris – it needs damp, open and non-wooded sites. Maintaining wet pastures and preventing drying out and scrub encroachment is vital.

This means active management of the machair: grazing, especially by cattle, to maintain its wet pasture habitat is key. Similarly in wet moorland and bogs, maintaining the water levels and preventing overgrazing by sheep and deer is also key. The differentiation in grazing animals is important: sheep and deer often target flowers whereas cattle are generally less choosy. Bringing cattle back into sites can help a range of threatened plant species and the benefits are multiple.

Gardeners can help

At home, even if you don’t manage a grassland, machair or bog, there are a few things you can do: top of the list is to notice the plant and help increase the number of records we have. As an easy plant to identify, all records are helpful to help build up the database of this species. Secondly, keep an eye on local sites. If you see scrub encroachment or drainage let the land owner know where grass of Parnassus grows and what habitat conditions it needs.

If you have a garden, you can grow it in a wet patch, given the correct soil conditions –permanently damp and on the alkaline side. It can be grown from seed, it is hermaphrodite and produces nectar to attract pollinating insects. It also produces seed readily. Never dig up a plant but try some seed and see if you can grow it from that.

The most important point though is to enjoy it. Celebrate when you find it. And see what it inspires you to do.

Dr Deborah Long is chief executive of Scottish Environment Link

Anyone who wishes to submit a record for a grass of Parnassus can do so online, via i-record and the National Biodiversity Network