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Photographer: from USDA Plants website
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Family Iridaceae
Sisyrinchium mucronatum Michx.
needle-tip blue-eyed-grass
Sisyrinchium: Greek sys for pig; rynchos for snout; referring to a pig grubbing the roots for food
mucronatum: mucronate, short point
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| Status: | Native |
| Plant: | erect, perennial, 4"-16" tall forb, delicate, wiry, dark green, drying dull green to olive; stems flat and barely winged, almost wiry, largest only to 1/16" wide, unbranched, often purplish |
| Flower: | dark blue to blue violet, 6-parted, 3/4" - 1" wide, tepals sometimes white, bases yellow, tip notched to rounded with a sharp point; inflorescence of 1 cluster at the top of the stem, sheaths (spathes) purplish, usually connected at the base, outer sheath 1 1/3"-2' long |
| Fruit: | small, roundish capsule, tan to light brown with a purplish tinge |
| Leaf: | narrow, much shorter than the stems |
| Habitat: | meadows, fields, open woods; in sandy soil |
| (Glossary) |
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