Sisyrinchium halophilum
Encyclopedia
Sisyrinchium halophilum is a species of flowering plant in the iris family
known by the common name Nevada blue-eyed grass. It is native to the western United States in and around the Great Basin
and Mojave Desert
, where it grows in moist, often highly alkaline habitat, such as seeps
, meadows, and mineral spring
s.
perennial herb takes a clumpy form, producing waxy stems up 26 to 40 centimeters in maximum height. The flat leaves are grasslike. The flower has six tepal
s measuring roughly one centimeter long each. They are pale blue to purple-blue with yellow bases. The tepal tips are often squared or notched or have a tiny point. The fruit is a beige capsule.
Iridaceae
The Iris family or Iridaceae is a family of perennial, herbaceous and bulbous plants included in the monocot order Asparagales, taking its name from the genus Iris. Almost worldwide in distribution and one of the most important families in horticulture, it includes more than 2000 species...
known by the common name Nevada blue-eyed grass. It is native to the western United States in and around the Great Basin
Great Basin
The Great Basin is the largest area of contiguous endorheic watersheds in North America and is noted for its arid conditions and Basin and Range topography that varies from the North American low point at Badwater Basin to the highest point of the contiguous United States, less than away at the...
and Mojave Desert
Mojave Desert
The Mojave Desert occupies a significant portion of southeastern California and smaller parts of central California, southern Nevada, southwestern Utah and northwestern Arizona, in the United States...
, where it grows in moist, often highly alkaline habitat, such as seeps
Seep (hydrology)
A Seep is a moist or wet place where water, usually groundwater, reaches the earth's surface from an underground aquifer.-Description:Seeps are usually not of sufficient volume to be flowing beyond their above-ground location. They are part of the limnology-geomorphology system...
, meadows, and mineral spring
Mineral spring
Mineral springs are naturally occurring springs that produce water containing minerals, or other dissolved substances, that alter its taste or give it a purported therapeutic value...
s.
Description
Sisyrinchium halophilum is rhizomatousRhizome
In botany and dendrology, a rhizome is a characteristically horizontal stem of a plant that is usually found underground, often sending out roots and shoots from its nodes...
perennial herb takes a clumpy form, producing waxy stems up 26 to 40 centimeters in maximum height. The flat leaves are grasslike. The flower has six tepal
Tepal
Tepals are elements of the perianth, or outer part of a flower, which include the petals or sepals. The term tepal is more often applied specifically when all segments of the perianth are of similar shape and color, or undifferentiated, which is called perigone...
s measuring roughly one centimeter long each. They are pale blue to purple-blue with yellow bases. The tepal tips are often squared or notched or have a tiny point. The fruit is a beige capsule.