Iridaceae

Sisyrinchium idahoense

Idaho Blue-Eyed Grass

Clump of narrow, flattened leaves, much shorter than the unbranched flower-bearing stem. Flowers are a blue to violet cluster at top of flattened, leafless stem. Flower petals rounded to notched, with long sharp point at tip. Grows in moist meadows, edges of wetlands, at mid to high elevations, mostly in mountains. Var. idahoense has a few teeth on upper margin of stem, while var. occidentale has no teeth on stem. Similar blue-flowered S. bellum, with branched stems, leaves and flower stems roughly equal in length, and smaller point on petal tips, is found in moist meadows and woodlands at low to mid elevations.

• Rarity: Locally Common
• Flowering Time: Mid Summer
• Life Cycle: Perennial
• Height: 4--16 inches
• Habitat: Meadow, Subalpine, Alpine, East-Side Forest
• Found In: Olympic Np, N Cascades Np, Steens, East Gorge, Siskiyous, Crater Lake Np
• Native: Yes