The common name is derived from the blue flowers. These blue (to a blue-violet) flowers are on branching stems with grass-like foliage. However, this plant is not a grass but is in the iris family. The stiff, upright, sword-shaped leaves form into a fan shape, very similar to other plants in the iris family. These leaves are typically narrower than the leaves of an iris, making it look more like a grass. After the flowers have bloomed, it would be hard to pick out this plant when growing along with other grassy plants. Growing from rhizomes, this plant likes moist to average soil and is generally found in moist meadows, marshes, low woods, damp open woods, on stream banks and slopes. Planting is groups will provide curb appeal. It is the most common blue-eyed grass in the eastern portion of the United States. The leaves were cooked and eaten by Native Americans as a medicinal plant. It was said to regulate the bowels. Habitat: Woodlands, forests, meadows, sand hills, and swales. Insects, Diseases, and Other Plant Problems: No serious issues. Being a self-seeding plant, it should be cut down after blooming in order to avoid unwanted spread. Division should be performed every few years to keep the plants healthy.
Source: NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox ↗Reconciled to full toolbox: matched by slug to slug 'sisyrinchium-angustifolium'. Identity (id/common/scientific name) preserved from the original 87-plant Hunnicutt set; attribute data refreshed from the 64-attribute toolbox scrape.
Curated pairwise relationships between this plant and others in the library — who feeds
whom, who competes, who confuses the pests. Green reads as a good pairing, red as one to avoid.
No curated interactions recorded for this species yet.
Also noted by NC State
Related species the NC State Plant Toolbox flags for this plant — look-alikes to tell
apart, and plants that play a similar role in a planting. Ones we carry in the library are linked.