IRIS FAMILY 



IRIDACEAE 



WHITE BLUE-EYED GRASS 



Sisyrinchium albidum Raf. 



The White Blue-eyed Grass, common in open grassy places 

 from North Carolina to Ohio, Ontario and Wisconsin, south 

 to Arkansas and Mississippi, blooms from April to June. It 

 produces a large number of grasslike basal leaves „^^ • 

 and several flattened stems 3-24 inches high. 



The white or pale blue flowers are produced in 

 an umbel between 2 bracts that form a sort of 

 spathe. The perianth is composed of 6 similar 

 parts, and the 6 stamens have their filaments 

 united more than halfway to the top. The ovary, 

 which is inferior, is 3-lobed, and the style is also. 

 The fruit is a capsule which is pale straw color 

 when mature. 



The Dark Blue-eyed Grass, Sisyrinchium angiisti- 



joUum Mill., is quite similar to the white species but 



the flowers are deep violet-blue and the capsules are 



dull brown, sometimes tinged with purple. It usually 



blooms a little later, from May to July. 



The Large Blue-eyed Grass, Sisyrinchium grami- 

 neum Curtis, grows 1-2 feet high in wet meadows and 

 deep woods from New Hampshire to Minnesota and 

 southwest. Its 2-4 large, deep blue flowers bloom 

 in April and June. They are borne at the ends of 2 

 unequal branches which terminate the stem in the 

 axil of the solitary grasslike stem leaf. Below are 

 several basal leaves, with roughened edges, about 

 one-quarter inch wide and nearly as long as the flower 

 stalk. 



A WHITE IRIS 



Tall and clothed in samite, 



Chaste and pure, 



In smooth armor — 



Your head held high 



In its helmet 



Of silver: 



Jean D'Arc riding 



Among the sword blades ! 



Has spring for you 

 Wrought visions, 

 As it did for her 

 In a garden? 



Paumnk p.. Barringtox 



66 



