BLUE-EYED GRASS
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BLUE-EYED GRASS

Sisyrinchium campestre
IRIS FAMILY (Iridiceae)

Identification

  • Flowering time - May, June
  • Rare in Jonas Prairie - NW
  • Thin, leafless flower stem
  • 6 blue or white "petals" with pointed tips
  • Grass-like leaves
  • BLUE-EYED GRASS
  • BLUE-EYED GRASS
  • BLUE-EYED GRASS
Click on each photo thumbnail to enlarge.

This inconspicuous native perennial is from 6-12 inches tall. It has one to several upright, thin, leafless flower stems and long, narrow, grass-like basal leaves (D). Flower stems are winged, giving them a flat appearance. At the top are two green, overlapping bracts of unequal length from which the 1/2 inch flower heads emerge (B). Flowers consist of 6 white to dark blue petal-like tepals (3 true petals and 3 similar sepals), each with a pointed tip and a yellow base (B,C). In the center is a column of 3 yellow-to-orange-tipped, fused stamens.

Found in prairies and open woods, flowering in May and June. It is rare at Neale Woods where a few white-flowered plants occur in Jonas Prairie. The blue-flowered plant in photo (C) was seen just once in open woods in the Neale Prairie vicinity.  It has not been seen in Fontenelle Forest.

This delicate, early flowering plant with thin, leafless stems and grass-like basal leaves is not likely to be confused with any other early flowering prairie plant.

Other common names include Prairie Blue-Eyed Grass and White-Eyed Grass.

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