Sisyrinchium montanum

Sisyrinchium montanum
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Monocots
Order:	Asparagales
Family:	Iridaceae
Subfamily:	Iridoideae
Tribe:	Sisyrinchieae
Genus:	Sisyrinchium
Species:	S. montanum
Binomial name
Sisyrinchium montanum Greene

Sisyrinchium montanum, or strict blue-eyed grass, is a grass-like species of plants 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 is very similar to S. angustifolium, with which it is sometimes combined.

Although not official, Sisyrinchium montanum is regarded as the national flower of Bermuda.

Description

Sisyrinchium montanum is a herbaceous perennial plant that grows in clumps between 10–50 cm tall. Its stems have wings with entire to finely toothed margins. The leaves and stem are slender, 3 mm broad, green or brownish, with sharp edges and a fine point.

The flowers are produced in a small cyme of two to five together emerging from a spathe, each flower about 2 cm diameter, with six purplish tepals with a yellowish base and yellow stamens. The fruit is a capsule 4.5–6 mm long, containing numerous small black seeds.

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See also

Media related to Sisyrinchium montanum at Wikimedia Commons

• List of Sisyrinchium species

References

• USDA PLANTS database: Sisyrinchium montanum
• Botany Photo of the Day: Sisyrinchium montanum