Parnassia grandifolia

A few years ago, plant hunting in Tennessee with a friend, I saw Parnassia grandifolia for the first time. It was growing in thin soil on a steep slope. The site is rich in horticulturally excellent woody and herbaceous plant species, including Nyssa sylvatica, various Magnolia species, Aconitum uncinatum and Clematis viorna. Alkaline water seeping from the bedrock makes the soil permanently wet, though the drainage is simultaneously excellent. At the time I was more interested in a colony of Trautvetteria growing beside the Parnassia. The Trautvetteria was in flower (in mid July) and its unusually coriaceous leaves alerted my observant friend to the fact that this might be a new species, a hunch that subsequent molecular analysis has confirmed. Beside this exciting find the Parnassia's foliage, reminiscent of an Asarum, seemed rather insignificant. When it flowered for the first time in cultivation, however, my indifference was replaced by an immediate enthusiasm for the extraordinary flowers, which are bright white, veined with emerald green. The patterns made by the veining remind me of a computer-generated fractal. It is flowering again now, in mid September.

Parnassia grandifolia