| Author | Nash | |
| Distribution | Mostly southern Coastal Plain and Sandhills; scattered northeast to Lake Phelps in Washington County.
Coastal Plain, southern ME to southern FL and southern MS; eastern TX; Cuba; southern Mex.- C.A. Not known from VA. | |
| Abundance | Uncommon, but may be numerous where found. This is a Watch List species. | |
| Habitat | Margins and shallow water of blackwater stream impoundments, beaver ponds, natural depression ponds and sinkhole ponds. | |
| Phenology | Flowering and fruiting late July-September. | |
| Identification | Small's Yellow-eyed-grass is one of our robust species, its scapes typically 2-4 feet tall and leaves 1-2 feet long and up to 1.5 cm wide. Leaves are pink or reddish basally; and the leaves and stem have a lustrous sheen to them. This species often grows with Fringed Yellow-eyed-grass (X. fimbriata), but is shorter and its lateral sepals are short-lacerate rather than long-fringed. | |
| Taxonomic Comments | None
Members of Xyris are easy to identify to genus, but can be a challenge to identify species. Careful observation of a few features with a hand-lens is usually sufficient. Close attention must be paid to the flowering head, which is composed of overlapping brown scales. Immediately behind each scale are two brown "lateral sepals"; the margins of these may be feathery or irregularly lacerate (cut into narrow segments) or finely cut into short, comb-like prickles. Lateral sepals may be hidden or a bit longer than each scale. The flowers themselves are usually of little diagnostic value, other than time of flowering -- morning vs. afternoon. Seed size and ornamentation can also be useful characters, but require a dissecting scope to see well. Note also whether leaves and scapes (stems) are twisted and the color of the basal portion. All species have 2-ranked leaves, but in some species the leaves are arranged in a broad, fan-like shape. Finally, note the leaf and stem surface texture -- whether smooth of with little pale bumps. See Godfrey & Wooten (1979) for detailed descriptions and drawings. | |
| Other Common Name(s) | None | |
| State Rank | S3 | |
| Global Rank | G4G5 | |
| State Status | W1 | |
| US Status | | |
| USACE-agcp | OBL link |
| USACE-emp | OBL link |
