Grass of parnassus

Grass of parnassus grows on wet, nutrient-poor and calcareous soils and is most common in Flanders in humid dune slacks. In Flanders, grass of Parnassus is rare and limited to the Western coast. The decline is mainly due to increased urbanisation and the desiccation of dune areas for water extraction. New dune valleys are also no longer being created due to the stabilization and encroachment of shifting dunes. Parnassia is named after the Greek mountain Parnassus, the abode of grace and beauty, where this plant is said to have originated and first flowered.