BLUE-EYED GRASS

any of the more than 75 species of Sisyrinchium, native to the Americas and the Caribbean. These grasslike members of the iris family (Iridaceae) bear starry, yellow, white, or blue to violet flowers with six petallike segments and wiry, fibrous rootstalks. Two species, S. bermudiana, from the West Indies, and S. angustifolium, from North America, have been naturalized in parts of Europe. The West Indian species has tall (50-centimetre ) flower stems that bear 2-centimetre yellow-eyed blooms; S. angustifolium has smaller flowers. A Chilean plant, S. striatum, bears a spike up to 90 cm tall with clusters of creamy white blooms.