Vascular Plants of North Carolina
Account for Narrowleaf Blue-eyed-grass - Sisyrinchium angustifolium   P. Miller
Members of Iridaceae:
Members of Sisyrinchium with account distribution info or public map:
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Section 5 » Order Liliales » Family Iridaceae
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AuthorP. Miller
DistributionStatewide, almost certainly found in all 100 counties, though still lacking records for over 10 random counties. This is our only blue-eyed-grass that has a statewide distribution.

This is an Eastern species with a broad range and presence in most counties within the range. It occurs from southeastern Canada south to the Gulf Coast and to central TX.
AbundanceFrequent to common essentially across the state. Probably least numerous along the immediate coast.
HabitatThis species has a wide array of habitats, from moist meadows moist fields, bottomlands, margins of floodplain forests, florest clearings. In some areas, such as the Sandhills and Coastal Plain, it favors moist to wet areas like seepages, savannas, and meadows. Thus, it inhabits the wetter portion of the habitat scale vs. drier as in S. atlanticum.
PhenologyBlooms from March to June, and fruits from June to August.
IdentificationThe species has a strongly widened/winged flowering stem, that reaches about 10-12 inches high, with the stem about 1/4-inch wide. The basal leaves are roughly the same width and length as the stem. In this species, leaf bases do not persist as bristles. Stems and leaves are plain green (vs. pale or glaucescent green in S. atlanticum). The plant normally is branched in the upper half, with one or two flowers at the tips; the flowers are deep blue to light blue, and about 1/2-inch across. Also note the very long pedicels to the flowers, which often carry the flowers 3-4 inches above the stem. Most other Sisyrinchium species have much shorter flower stalks. This is the blue-eyed-grass that an observer is most likely to see first on a general walk in the state. Eastern Blue-eyed-grass (S. atlanticum) is very similar when in flower, except that its leaves and stems are narrower and paler green; its fruits are black or blackish (vs. brown).
Taxonomic CommentsNone

Other Common Name(s)Stout Blue-eyed-grass. Note that the specific epithet translates to "narrow foliage" or "narrow leaf", though this species really does not have narrow leaves in comparison with other species in the genus.
State RankS5
Global RankG5
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B.A. SorriePiedmont, moist Willow Oak flat, Big Governor's Creek, early May 2015. MoorePhoto_natural
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