Strict blue-eyed grass
Prepared by Jennifer L. D’Appollonio, Assistant Scientist, University of Maine, Orono, ME 04469. March 2011.
Scientific name: Sisyrinchium montanum Greene
Common name(s): strict blue-eyed grass, common blue-eyed grass, mountain blue-eyed grass, northern blue-eyed grass
Links: USDA PLANTS Profile, NPIN Profile, Go Botany
Images: (to see enlargements [PC]: click on image, then right click and choose “view image”)
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- early June, solitary inflorescence can have multiple flowers
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- flower detail
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- fruit and flower, mid-June
Description:
-perennial
-in the iridaceae family
-leaves are
- alternate
- basal
- linear
-can grow up to 50 cm tall
-Sisyrinchium is distinguished by its outer bract, which is no more than 16 mm longer than the inner bract, and usually fused basally for 4 -6 mm
-has a granular seed coat
-generally flowers in June in ME
-easily confused with S. mucronatum, which has narrower leaves and purplish spathes (bracts surrounding the inflorescence)
Habitat:
-forest edges
-meadows and fields
-river shores
Source(s):
Heinrich, B. 1976. Flowering phenologies: Bog, woodland, and disturbed habitats. Ecology. 57(5):890-899.
Go Botany. “Sisyrinchium Montanum Greene.” Sisyrinchium Montanum (Strict Blue-Eyed-Grass): Go Botany, 2020, gobotany.nativeplanttrust.org/species/sisyrinchium/montanum/.
Washington Department of Natural Resources. Sisyrinchium Montanum Greene Var.montanum. 2020, www.dnr.wa.gov/publications/amp_nh_simom.pdf.