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Blue-eyed Grass

Sisyrinchium

Description:

Blue-eyed grass, so called because of its long grass-like leaves and its tendency to grow in grassy meadows, is a green to glaucous tufted perennial 12"-16" tall. The stems are flattish or somewhat winged and the flowers appear at the top. What appears to be six petals is actually three petals and three sepals joined at the base, forming a tube with a yellow center. The color of the flower is a deep bluish-purple to blue-violet and rarely white, and the tips of the perianth segments are truncate to notched with a small point. Although most of the leaves are basal, there are alternate cauline leaves as well which are shorter. The fruit is a dry dark or pale-brown capsule with 1-few seeds in a locule. Blue-eyed grass is widely distributed and may be commonly found in many plant communities including chaparral and coastal sage scrub near the coast and inland, growing to an elevation of about 3000'. It blooms from March to May and is quite variable.

Habitat:

In a meadow.

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2 Comments

SarahWhitt
SarahWhitt 12 years ago

Oh thanks for that "tid-bit"...I love these little guys! They are in abundance on our farm right now!

Gordon Dietzman
Gordon Dietzman 12 years ago

This was one of Henry David Thoreau's favorite wildflowers. I've often gone out on cloudy days to photograph them (when color is at its most saturated) and found them closed; they like bright sunshine.

SarahWhitt
Spotted by
SarahWhitt

Ohio, USA

Spotted on May 22, 2011
Submitted on May 23, 2011

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