Sisyrinchium bellum Wats.   Iridaceae (Iris Family)   Native   Blue-Eyed Grass

                                         March Photo

Plant Characteristics:  Tufted perennial, from 1-4 (-6) dm. high, green to glaucescent; stems 1-4 mm. wide, stout or slender, firm-margined to winged, smooth or denticulate on edges; lvs. mostly basal, soft to firm, shorter than to almost as tall as stems, mostly 2-4 (-6) mm. wide; cauline lvs. 1-3, each bearing 1 or more lf. bearing nodes, each node commonly bearing in its axil 2-4 peduncles 1-15 cm. long; spathe 2-6 mm. wide when pressed, often +/- purplish, the bracts unequal to subequal, the outer mostly 2-4.5 cm., the inner 1.5-2.5 cm. long, the translucent margins not extending above the tip; pedicels +/- exserted, slender, glabrous; perianth-segms. blue, violet, lilac, rarely white, emarginate and often aristulate, 12-15 or more mm. long; caps. dark or pale brown, 2-7 mm. long; seeds 1-few in a locule, dark, pitted.

Habitat:  Widely distributed, the more typical form largely in open grassy places, below 3000 ft.; many Plant Communities near the coast.  Santa Catalina, Santa Rosa, Santa Cruz, San Miguel ids.  March-May.

Name:  The name goes all the way back to Theophrastus (327-287 B.C.), a Greek student, and successor to Aristotle whose works on plants were heavily relied on by Renaissance writers.  Sisyrinchium refers to a plant he described related to the Iris.  (Dale 28).  Bellus, handsome.  (Bailey 11).

General:  Uncommon in the study area having been found only in places where it has been introduced.  Found first  in a hydromulched area, along the bike and horse path, built in the Santa Ana Heights area in 1987.  There were several plants in this one area which received, for a time, at least some water from adjacent sprinklered areas.  These plants no long receive irrigation and have persisted.  Found at 23rd St. in 2003 at the base of the path built along Irvine Ave. This area also was watered for a time after planting.  The predominant plant on this bank is Isocoma menziesii var. vernonioides.  (my comments).       The Spanish-Californians called S. bellum "azulea" and made the roots into a tea to use when feverish.  A patient was supposed to be able to survive on this tea for many days with no other sustenance.  (Dale 28).        Because of the manner in which the petals of S. bellum “kink up” when they fade, they are called “nigger babies” by the children.  (Parsons 290).  Parsons book was published in 1909.  The wording from Dale above is very similar to that used by Parsons in her book.  (my comments).        Delfina Cuero, a Kumeyaay or Southern Diegueno Indian, made the following comment about Sisyrinchium bellum in her autobiography:  "Boil whole plant as tea for cramps."  (Shipek 97).      A fairly large genus; N. Am. and W.I.  (Munz, Flora So. Calif. 907).   

Text Ref:  Hickman, Ed. 1156; Munz, Flora So. Calif. 908.

Photo Ref:  Mar-April 88 # 6A,7A,8A.

Identity: by R. De Ruff, confirmed by John Johnson.

First Found:  March 1988.

Computer Ref:  Plant Data 382.

Have plant specimen.

Last edit 6/10/05.

                                                 March Photo