Sisyrinchium

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Sisyrinchium
Sisyrinchium bermudianum B.jpg
Sisyrinchium bermudiana L. (type species)
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Order: Asparagales
Family: Iridaceae
Subfamily: Iridoideae
Tribe: Sisyrinchieae
Genus: Sisyrinchium
L.
Species
Synonyms [1]
  • BermudianaMill.
  • HydastylusDryand. ex Salisb.
  • SouzaVell.
  • PaneguiaRaf.
  • PogadelphaRaf.
  • EchthronemaHerb.
  • EriphilemaHerb.
  • GlumosiaHerb.
  • OreolirionE.P.Bicknell

Sisyrinchium is a large genus of annual to perennial flowering plants in the family Iridaceae. Native to the New World, the species are known as blue-eyed grasses. Although they are not true grasses (Poaceae), they are monocots. [2]

Contents

Several species in the eastern United States are threatened or endangered. This may be due to niche species emerging from their unique tendency toward rapid speciation which helps them adapt to specialized arenic habitats. [3]


Description

Sisyrinchium angustifolium Sisyrinchium angustifolium RHu 002.JPG
Sisyrinchium angustifolium
Sisyrinchium californicum Sisyrinchium californicum 7.jpg
Sisyrinchium californicum
Sisyrinchium albidum Sisyrinchium albidum.jpg
Sisyrinchium albidum

These are not true grasses, but many species have the general appearance of grasses, as they are low-growing plants with long, thin leaves. They often grow on grasslands. Many species resemble irises, to which they are more closely related. Most species grow as perennial plants, from a rhizome, though some are short-lived (e.g. Sisyrinchium striatum), and some are annuals (e.g. Sisyrinchium iridifolium ).

The flowers are relatively simple and often grow in clusters.

Many species, particularly the South American ones, are not blue, despite the common name. The genus includes species with blue, white, yellow, and purple petals, often with a contrasting centre. Of the species in the United States, the Western Blue-eyed Grass (Sisyrinchium bellum) is sometimes found with white flowers, while the California Golden-eyed Grass (Sisyrinchium californicum) has yellow flowers.

Taxonomy

The genus was named by Carl Linnaeus in 1753, based on the species Sisyrinchium bermudiana (commonly called Bermudiana). The taxonomy of this genus is rather perplexing and confusing,[ to whom? ] as several of these species, such as Sisyrinchium angustifolium , form complexes with many variants named as species. More genetic research and cladistic analysis need to be performed to sort out the relationships between the species. Some species, notably Sisyrinchium douglasii , have been transferred to the separate genus Olsynium .

The greatest diversity for the genus is found in South America. [4]

Approximately one third of the species in the genus have oil producing hairs called elaiophores to attract oil-bees. Nearly all these species are native to South America. [4]

Etymology

Sisyrinchíon is the Greek word, recorded by Pliny and Theophrastus, for the Barbary nut iris (Iris or Moraea sisyrinchium), and refers to the way the corm tunics resemble a shaggy goat's-hair coat, sisýra. [5] Authors as early as 1666 [6] give the dubious etymology of Latin sūs "pig" and Greek rhynchos "nose", referring to pigs grubbing the roots. As Goldblatt and Manning explain, "the reason for applying the name to a genus of New World Iridaceae was apparently arbitrary." [7]

Selected species

There are up to 200 species, [8] including:

Related Research Articles

<i>Sparaxis</i> Genus of flowering plants

Sparaxis is a genus of flowering plants called the harlequin flowers. It belongs to the iris family Iridaceae with about 13 species endemic to Cape Province, South Africa.

<i>Freesia</i> Genus of flowering plants

Freesia is a genus of herbaceous perennial flowering plants in the family Iridaceae, first described as a genus in 1866 by Christian Friedrich Ecklon (1886) and named after the German botanist and medical practitioner, Friedrich Freese (1795–1876). It is native to the eastern side of southern Africa, from Kenya south to South Africa, most species being found in Cape Provinces. Species of the former genus Anomatheca are now included in Freesia. The plants commonly known as "freesias", with fragrant funnel-shaped flowers, are cultivated hybrids of a number of Freesia species. Some other species are also grown as ornamental plants.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Iridaceae</span> Family of flowering plants comprising irises, gladioli, and crocuses

Iridaceae is a family of plants in order Asparagales, taking its name from the irises. It has a nearly global distribution, with 69 accepted genera with a total of c. 2500 species. It includes a number of economically important cultivated plants, such as species of Freesia, Gladiolus, and Crocus, as well as the crop saffron.

<i>Libertia</i> Genus of flowering plants

Libertia is a genus of monocotyledonous plants in the family Iridaceae, first described as a genus in 1824. It is native to South America, Australia, New Guinea, and New Zealand. Eight species are endemic to New Zealand.

<i>Olsynium douglasii</i> Species of flowering plant

Olsynium douglasii is a species of flowering plant in the iris family (Iridaceae). Common names include Douglas' olsynium, Douglas' grasswidow, grass-widow, blue-eyed grass, purple-eyed-grass, and satin flower, It is the only species in the genus Olsynium in North America, the remaining 11 species being from South America. It was formerly treated in the related genus Sisyrinchium. Despite the common names, it is not a true grass (Poaceae).

<i>Olsynium</i> Genus of flowering plants

Olsynium is a genus of summer-dormant rhizomatous perennial flowering plants in the iris family Iridaceae, native to sunny hillsides in South America and western North America.

<i>Sisyrinchium montanum</i> Species of grass-like plant

Sisyrinchium montanum, the blue-eyed-grass, American blue-eyed-grass, or strict blue-eyed grass, is a grass-like species of plant from the genus Sisyrinchium, native to northern North America from Newfoundland west to easternmost Alaska, and south to Pennsylvania in the east, and to New Mexico in the Rocky Mountains. It has also been introduced to parts of France, likely during the First World War.

<i>Orthrosanthus</i> Genus of flowering plants

Orthrosanthus is a genus of flowering plants in the family Iridaceae first described as a genus in 1827. It is native to Australia, Mexico, Central and South America.

<i>Dierama</i> Genus of flowering plants

Dierama is a genus of flowering plants in the family Iridaceae. Common names include hairbells, angel's fishing rod, fairybells, and wandflowers in English and grasklokkies in Afrikaans. They are native to Africa, with most occurring in the southern regions of the continent. The center of diversity is the province of KwaZulu-Natal in eastern South Africa.

<i>Sisyrinchium angustifolium</i> Species of flowering plant

Sisyrinchium angustifolium, commonly known as narrow-leaf blue-eyed-grass, is a herbaceous perennial growing from rhizomes, native to moist meadow and open woodland. It is the most common blue-eyed grass of the eastern United States, and is also cultivated as an ornamental.

<i>Alophia</i> Genus of flowering plants

Alophia is a small genus of perennial, herbaceous and bulbous plants in the family Iridaceae. The genus comprise five known species that occur from the South-central United States as well as in Mexico, Central America, and parts of South America.

Cyanixia is a genus of plants in the Iridaceae, first described in 2003. It contains only one known species, Cyanixia socotrana, a perennial, herbaceous and bulbous plant species endemic to the Island of Socotra in the Indian Ocean, part of the Republic of Yemen.

<i>Isophysis</i> Genus of flowering plants

Isophysis is a genus of herbaceous, perennial and rhizomatous plants in the Iris family (Iridaceae). A monotypic genus formerly known as Hewardia, it contains a single species, Isophysis tasmanica is a Palaeoendemic found only in the south-west of Tasmania.

<i>Solenomelus</i> Genus of flowering plants in the iris family Iridaceae

Solenomelus is a genus of South American species of flowering plants in the family Iridaceae. They are very closely allied to Sisyrinchium with rhizomes, flowers with a perianth tube and a style that is not divided and a single capitate stigma. The genus name is derived from the Greek words solen, meaning "tube", and melos, meaning "member".

<i>Aristea ecklonii</i> Species of flowering plant

Aristea ecklonii is a plant species in the Iridaceae, first described in 1866. It is native to central and southern Africa from South Africa north to Cameroon and Tanzania. The plant is an evergreen perennial with small, blue flowers, growing in clumps with upright, grass-like leaves 15–18 in (38–46 cm) in height.

<i>Iris tuberosa</i> Species of flowering plant

Iris tuberosa is a species of tuberous flowering plant of the genus Iris, with the common names snake's-head, snake's-head iris, widow iris, black iris, or velvet flower-de-luce.

<i>Sisyrinchium micranthum</i> Species of grass-like plant

Sisyrinchium micranthum, commonly known as annual blue-eyed grass,blue pigroot, fairy stars, and striped rush-leaf, is a wildflower. It is a grass-like species in the iris family, Iridaceae. It is native to Mexico, Central America, and South America and widely naturalized elsewhere. The flowers are between 10 and 20 mm in diameter. Often the flowers are white with blue to purple centers, but may bloom in other colors such as yellow, pink, or violet. These are followed by rounded 3 to 8 mm brown capsules that enclose the dark brown seeds.

<i>Sisyrinchium bermudiana</i> Flower of the iris family

Sisyrinchium bermudiana, known as Bermudiana or, along with other members of the genus, as blue-eyed grass, is a flower of the genus Sisyrinchium that is native to the Atlantic archipelago, and British Overseas Territory, of Bermuda and the island of Ireland. The plant appears and blooms in the spring. It has been used as a totemic flower by Bermudians, and appears in art, jewellery, banknotes and elsewhere.

<i>Sisyrinchium demissum</i> Species of flowering plant in the blue-eyed grass genus

Sisyrinchium demissum, commonly called stiff blue-eyed grass is small member of the iris family in genus Sisyrinchium. The plant's natural range is in the western United states and northern Mexico. It is sometimes grown in garden settings in its native range.

References

  1. Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
  2. "Sisyrinchium angustifolium".
  3. TWO NEW SPECIES OF SISYRINCHIUM (IRIDACEAE) FROM SOUTH-CENTRAL UNITED STATES (PDF)
  4. 1 2 Chauveau, Olivier; Eggers, Lilian; Raquin, Christian; Silvério, Adriano; Brown, Spencer; Couloux, Arnaud; Cruaud, Corine; Kaltchuk-Santos, Eliane; Yockteng, Roxana; Souza-Chies, Tatiana T.; Nadot, Sophie (2011). "Evolution of oil-producing trichomes in Sisyrinchium (Iridaceae): insights from the first comprehensive phylogenetic analysis of the genus". Annals of Botany. 107 (8): 1287–1312. doi:10.1093/aob/mcr080. ISSN   0305-7364. PMC   3101146 . Retrieved 19 April 2024.
  5. σισυριγχίον, σισύρα . Liddell, Henry George ; Scott, Robert ; A Greek–English Lexicon at the Perseus Project
  6. Ambrosini, Giacinto. 1666. Phytologiae
  7. Manning, John; Goldblatt, Peter (2008). The Iris Family: Natural History & Classification. Portland, Oregon: Timber Press. pp. 221–25. ISBN   978-0-88192-897-6.
  8. Search for "Sisyrinchium", World Checklist of Selected Plant Families, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew , retrieved 2012-09-22