IRIS FAMILY 



(Iridacece) 



Herbaceous perennial plants, with narrow leaves folded 

 lengthwise, each embracing the next within. Flowers showy, 

 perfect, but often irregular, of six segments, apparently set 

 above the ovary, as in Amaryllidacese, but distinguished from 

 the latter by having only 3 stamens. 



BLUE EYED GRASS (Sisyrinchium bellum, Wats.). Flowers 

 deep blue with a yellowish centre, six parted and spreading, 

 star-like, borne in loose umbels at the top of branching, flattish 

 stems a foot or so tall. Leaves basal and grass-like. Bloom- 

 ing in spring and summer, in grassy places from near sea level. 



This is one of the most sociable of wild flowers on the Pacific 

 Coast, and far from being scared away by the settlements of 

 men, seems to thrive in human companionship. Its pretty 

 flowers are short lived, hardly outlasting a day, but as fast as 

 one withers another opens and a single plant will thus remain 

 a cheerful sight for a long time. The Indians found a medi- 

 cinal use for the root, which is purgative, and Spanish Califor- 

 nians (who call it Azulea, from azul, blue) used to make a tea of 

 the plant, and perhaps still do, for use in fevers. 

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