Needletip Blue-Eyed Grass (Sisyrinchium mucronatum)
Description
Deep blue to violet, occasionally pale but rarely white, star-like flowers - to just under - inch across, with 6 tepals (3 petals and 3 sepals all similar) that are usually rounded at the tips; a small needle-like projection is at the very tip. A bright spot at the base of each tepal creates a greenish to yellow throat, with a column of bright yellow-tipped stamens in the center. Flowers are borne in groups of 2 to 4, each on a short slender stalk with usually only 1 flower open at a time, and enclosed by 2 leaf-like bracts (spathe).[photo of spathe] The spathe is sometimes green or more often purple, the outer spathe up to 2 inches long and up to twice as long as the inner spathe. The edges of the outer spathe are joined at the base, for less than 1/8 inch.Leaves and stems: Leaf attachment: basal Leaf type: simple [photo of leaves] Leaves are all basal, long and slender, grass-like, toothless, generally 4 to 8 inches long, the largest are less than 1/10 inch wide. The flowering stems are much longer than the leaves, very slender and wiry, about 1/16 inch wide with absent or scarsely decernable wings, and smooth along the edges.
Taxonomic tree
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Domain: Eukarya
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Kingdom: Plantae
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Phylum: Magnoliophyta
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Class: Liliopsida
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Order: Asparagales
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Family: Iridaceae
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Genus: Sisyrinchium
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