XYRIDACE^E YELLOW-EYED GRASS FAMILY 



Xyris flexuosa, Muhl. 



Yellow Yellow-eyed Grass. 



August- September 



Xyris: name, derived from Greek for a river, and applied 



to some Greek plant with two-edged leaves. 

 Flexuosa: Latin, to bend. 



THE PREFERRED HABITAT: sandy bogs and along pond 

 shores. 



THE PLANT: erect, four to twelve inches high; the flower 

 stem without hairs. 



THE LEAVES: erect, from a small bulb-like base; pale 

 green; narrowly linear, twisted; slightly compressed to- 

 ward the top; entire; par all el- veined. 



THE FLOWERS: in small heads supported by closely over- 

 lapping, pale brown bracts; sepals and petals three. 



THE FRUIT: a capsule. 



A stranger to the majority of people who are in search 

 of beautiful flowers on the pond's border, and yet among 

 the first plants to arouse the curiosity of one who is begin- 

 ning to question everything he sees. The stem is stiff, 

 thick, and leafless. At the top a small, irregularly-shaped 

 yellow flower head is more than supported by a vase- 

 shaped envelope of yellow-brown scales. From the bul- 

 bous root rise the grass-like leaves. The flowers close 

 early, not to reopen. 



One other member of the Yellow-eyed Gr s Family has 

 been reported. 



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