Difference between revisions of "Sisyrichium idahoense"

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Flowers are protandrous, thereby promoting out-crossing and at the same time reducing the chances for self pollination. S. idahoensis is an octoploid species and often exhibits a lag of up to 24 hours between anther maturation and stigma receptivity <ref name="Henderson"/>
 
Flowers are protandrous, thereby promoting out-crossing and at the same time reducing the chances for self pollination. S. idahoensis is an octoploid species and often exhibits a lag of up to 24 hours between anther maturation and stigma receptivity <ref name="Henderson"/>
 
===Outplanting Characteristics and Requirements===
 
===Outplanting Characteristics and Requirements===
Out-plant in the fall to take advantage of natural moisture or plant in spring and provide supplementary watering. Successfully self-seeds in situ. Can be successfully divided in situ in the spring by simply teasing plants apart and replanting the resulting clumps (R. Bridgeman, pers. comm.).
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Out-plant in the fall to take advantage of natural moisture or plant in spring and provide supplementary watering. Successfully self-seeds in situ. Can be successfully divided in situ in the spring by simply teasing plants apart and replanting the resulting clumps <ref>R. Bridgeman, pers. comm.</ref>
  
 
==Photo Gallery==
 
==Photo Gallery==

Revision as of 11:49, 16 April 2012

Sisyrichium idahoense seed. Photo by Lisa Hintz
  • Scientific Name: Sisyrichium idahoense
  • Family: Iridaceae
  • English Names: Blue-eyed grass, Idaho blue-eyed grass
  • Other Names: Sisyrinchium angustifolium

Taxonomy

  • Kingdom: Plantae
  • (unranked): Angiosperms
  • (unranked): Monocots
  • Order: Asparagales
  • Family: Iridaceae
  • Subfamily: Iridoideae
  • Tribe: Sisyrinchieae
  • Genus: Sisyrinchium
  • Species: S. idahoense

Description

Showy, tufted perennial to 40 cm tall; stems usually flattened and wing-margined. Leaves mostly basal, long (to 20 cm).and very narrow (< 2 mm broad). Flowers blue to purplish-blue often with a yellow "eye", small (about 2 cm across) and in a terminal cluster of one to five flowers above a pair of sheathing, leaf-like bracts. Fruits egg-shaped capsules to 6 mm long, with black seeds [1]

Bloom Period

May to July

Distribution

Habitat

Moist to wet grassy meadows, vernal seepage areas, marshes, roadside ditches; at low to middle elevations [1]

Uses

Site Rehabilitation

Possible reclamation species in moister pockets in selected sites [2]

Wildlife

Solitary bees of the family Megachilidae are mainly responsible for cross-pollination in natural populations. [3]

Landscaping

Mass-plant to create a showy display in a border or a rock garden [4]

First Nations

Infusion of root given to children for diarrhea; Eaten as cooked greens for “regular bowels”; decoction of roots and stalks taken before morning meal for constipation; compound with plant taken for “summer complaint”; infusion of plant taken for stomach troubles and stomach worms; mixed with other greens and eaten.

Propagation

Seed Propagation

Flowers are protandrous, thereby promoting out-crossing and at the same time reducing the chances for self pollination. S. idahoensis is an octoploid species and often exhibits a lag of up to 24 hours between anther maturation and stigma receptivity [3]

Outplanting Characteristics and Requirements

Out-plant in the fall to take advantage of natural moisture or plant in spring and provide supplementary watering. Successfully self-seeds in situ. Can be successfully divided in situ in the spring by simply teasing plants apart and replanting the resulting clumps [5]

Photo Gallery

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 Pojar and MacKinnon, 1994
  2. Winters, 2002
  3. 3.0 3.1 Henderson, 1976
  4. Tenenbaum et al., 1994
  5. R. Bridgeman, pers. comm.