IRIDACE^E 



IRIDACE^) IRIS FAMILY 



Sisyrinchium atlanticum, Bicknell 



Violet-blue Blue-eyed Grass. 



May-June 



Sisyrinchium: name of Greek origin, of uncertain meaning. 

 Atlanticum: Latin form for Atlantic in allusion to the fact 

 that the plant grows mostly near the shore. 



THE PREFERRED HABITAT: damp soil. 



THE PLANT: erect, about six inches tall or taller; the stem 

 without hairs, conspicuously kneed, wiry and slender, 

 much exceeding the narrow leaves. 



THE LEAVES: linear; without hairs on either surface; acute 

 at the apex; sessile; parallel- veined. The bracteal leaf 

 usually shorter than the slender stem. 



THE FLOWERS: with a yellow eye, clustered in an umbel, 

 usually two to four bracts somewhat purplish and papery. 



THE FRUIT: a capsule, slightly higher than broad. 



A delicate, grass-like plant that prefers to grow in low 

 grounds, where the soil is somewhat sandy. Its wheel- 

 shaped blue flowers are pretty, but last for only a few hours. 

 Botanically, its most reliable distinction is the flexuous or 

 " kneed" stem 



Two other members of the Iris Family have been 

 reported. 



