| Botanical name: |
Sisyrinchium atlanticum
Bickn |
| Common
name: |
Eastern
blue eyed grass
|
| Synonomy: |
Sisyrinchium apiculatum
Bickn.
Sisyrinchium
mucronatum Michx. var. atlanticum
(Bickn.) Ahles
|
| Group: |
Monocot
|
| Family: |
Iridaceae |
| Growth
Type: |
Forb/herb
|
| Duration: |
Perennial
|
| Plant
height: |
6-18"
|
| Foliage: |
Lower stem is barely winged, pale
green, under 1/8" wide. Leaves are entire, and a grass-like blade.
|
| Flower
color: |
Flower is yellow-eyed; blue to violet
flower.
|
| Flower
size: |
1/2"-3/4" wide, each petal with a bristle tip.
|
| Flowering/fruiting time |
Flowers mid-May to mid-June.
Fruits early June to early July. Fruit is a capsule.
|
| Habitat: |
Fields, meadows, open woods, edges of
salt marshes.
|
| Range in
New Jersey: |
Throughout our region; most plentiful
in the Pine barrens.
|
| Heritage ranking if any: |
n/a
|
| Distribution |
|
| Misc.: |
USDA
lists as FACW, usually occurs in wetlands (estimated probability
67%-99%), but occasionally found in non-wetlands.
Sisyrinchium
atlanticum is somewhat similar to Sisyrinchium angustifolium, but can
be distinguished by the following characters: S. atlanticum - stems and leaves
glaucous, stems slender and narrowly winged, peduncles slender; S. angustifolium - stems and leaves
green, stems and peduncles broadly winged.
Sisyrinchium,
from the Greek sys- (pig) and rynchos (snout) referring to the roots
being consumed by swine.
|
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