Sisyrinchium angustifolium

Narrow-leaf blue-eyed-grass
Conservation status
Secure  (NatureServe) [1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Monocots
Order:	Asparagales
Family:	Iridaceae
Genus:	Sisyrinchium
Species:	S. angustifolium
Binomial name
Sisyrinchium angustifolium Mill., 1768
Synonyms [2]
List Bermudiana angustifolia (Mill.) Kuntze (1891) Bermudiana bermudiana var. albida Kuntze (1898) Bermudiana bermudiana var. angustifolia (Mill.) Kuntze (1898) Sisyrinchium bermudiana subsp. angustifolium (Mill.) P.Fourn. (1935) Bermudiana graminea Gaertn. (1788) Bermudiana graminea (Lam.) Nieuwl. (1913) Bermudiana graminifolia Medik. (1787) Bermudiana homomalla (Klatt) Kuntze (1891) Bermudiana iridifolia Medik. (1787) Ferraria pulchella Salisb. (1796) Ferraria violacea Salisb. (1796) Marica mucronata Ker Gawl. (1827) Sisyrinchium acuminatum Herb. (1843) Sisyrinchium anceps Cav. (1788) Sisyrinchium bermudiana var. anceps (Cav.) A.Gray (1867) Sisyrinchium carolinianum E.P.Bicknell (1899) Sisyrinchium cultrifolium Noronha (1790) Sisyrinchium excisum Godr. (1853) Sisyrinchium gramineum Lam. (1785) Sisyrinchium graminoides E.P.Bicknell (1896) Sisyrinchium hibernicum Á.Löve & D.Löve (1961) Sisyrinchium homomallum Klatt (1882) Sisyrinchium iridioides Curtis (1789) Sisyrinchium membranaceum E.P.Bicknell (1899) Sisyrinchium nuttallii Sweet (1826) Sisyrinchium ramosum Herb. (1843)

Sisyrinchium angustifolium, commonly known as narrow-leaf blue-eyed-grass, ^[3] is a herbaceous perennial growing from rhizomes, native to the eastern United States, stretching as far west as Texas and Kansas, where it is the most common blue-eyed grass. It is commonly cultivated as an ornamental.

Description

Height: 15–50 cm (6–20 in). Stem: broadly winged, 2–4 mm (1⁄16–3⁄16 in) wide, usually branched. Leaves: 2–6 mm (1⁄16–1⁄4 in) wide. Tepals: 6, blue, ^[4] 7–10 mm (1⁄4–3⁄8 in), each tipped with a sharp point, veined, and darkening toward central yellow patch.

Ecology

Habitat

S. angustifolium is most commonly found in habitats such as woodlands, meadows, and sandhill swales. ^[5]

This species possesses an intermediate shade tolerance and is adapted to both fine and medium-textured soils. ^[6]

Phenology

S. angustifolium tends to flower from January to May, with peak inflorescence occurring in the spring, around April. ^[7]

Gallery

• 
  Many in a hedge
• 
  Flowers, stem, and leaves
• 
  Bud before flowering and immature fruits
• 
  flower, close
• 
  Mature fruits, having released the seeds

References

1. NatureServe (2024). "Sisyrinchium angustifolium". Arlington, Virginia. Retrieved 22 October 2024.
2. "Sisyrinchium angustifolium Mill". Plants of the World Online . Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew . Retrieved 22 October 2024.
3. "Sisyrinchium angustifolium". Germplasm Resources Information Network . Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture . Retrieved 1 July 2014.
4. Taylor, Ronald J. (1994) [1992]. Sagebrush Country: A Wildflower Sanctuary (rev. ed.). Missoula, MT: Mountain Press Pub. Co. p. 72. ISBN   0-87842-280-3. OCLC   25708726.
5. Weakley, A. S. (2015). Flora of the Southern and Mid-Atlantic States. Chapel Hill, NC, University of North Carolina Herbarium.
6. "USDA Plants Database". plants.usda.gov. Retrieved 2025-07-25.
7. Nelson, G. PanFlora: Plant data for the eastern United States with emphasis on the Southeastern Coastal Plains, Florida, and the Florida Panhandle. www.gilnelson.com/PanFlora/ Accessed: 29 MAY 2018

Further reading

• Cholewa, Anita F.; Henderson, Douglass M. (2002). "Sisyrinchium angustifolium". In Flora of North America Editorial Committee (ed.). Flora of North America North of Mexico (FNA). Vol. 26. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press – via eFloras.org, Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO & Harvard University Herbaria, Cambridge, MA.
• Rhoads, Ann F.; Block, Timothy A. (2007). The Plants of Pennsylvania: An Illustrated Manual. Anna Anisko (Illustrator) (2nd ed.). University of Pennsylvania Press. ISBN   978-0-8122-4003-0.
• Gleason, Henry A.; Cronquist, Arthur (1991). Manual of Vascular Plants of Northeastern United States and Adjacent Canada (2nd ed.). The New York Botanical Garden Press. ISBN   0-89327-365-1.
• Thierer, John W.; Niering, William A.; Olmstead, Nancy C. (2001). National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Wildflowers, Eastern Region (Revised ed.). Alfred A. Knopf. ISBN   0-375-40232-2.