Roots rhizomes obscure.
Stems to 45 cm tall, tufted, usually unbranched, obviously winged.
Inflorescences born singly; outer bracts longer than inner, keels entire to toothed, inner bracts with narrow translucent margin.
Flowers perianth segments 8–17 mm, dark to pale blue to blue-violet with yellow base, tips rounded to deeply notched and with a small point; filaments bluish violet, connate, with glandular hairs at base.
Fruits globose to pear-shaped, beige to light or dark brown, sometimes with purple blotches.
Seeds globose to obconic, lacking obvious depression, usually granular.
Western North America. 4 varieties; 2 varieties treated in Flora.
Sisyrinchium idahoense is a highly variable species throughout its range; its varieties intergrade.
Idaho blue-eyed grass is a charming member of the iris family, with characteristic flattened leaves but sporting flowers with 6 uniform tepals. Its 1-inch flowers are a lovely blue to purple, with darker coloration around the bright yellow to lime green centers. This semi-evergreen perennial grows in small tufts to roughly 1 foot and is generally found in wet meadows, seeps, wetland edges, and vernal pools. It prefers full to partial sun with moist or seasonally wet soils, and is ideal in native perennial borders or moist wildflower meadows.
as described under Sisyrinchium idahoense
Herbs, perennial, cespitose, green to ashy olive when dry, to 4.5 dm, not glaucous; rhizomes scarcely discernable. Stems simple, obviously winged, 1-2.5 mm wide, glabrous, margins entire to denticulate apically, similar in color and texture to stem body. Leaf blades glabrous, bases not persistent in fibrous tufts. Inflorescences borne singly; spathes usually green, glabrous, keels entire to denticulate; outer 14-55(-65) mm, 13-16 mm longer than inner, basally connate 2.6-7 mm, tapering evenly towards apex; inner with keel evenly curved to straight, hyaline margins 0.1-0.5 mm wide, apex acuminate to acute, ending 0.5-2.1 mm proximal to green apex. Flowers: tepals light to deep bluish violet or occasionally purple, bases yellow; outer tepals 8-20 mm, apex rounded, truncate, or emarginate, aristate; filaments connate ± entirely, stipitate-glandular basally; ovary similar in color to foliage. Capsules beige to light or dark brown, occasionally with purple blotches on apex, ± globose to pyriform, 3-6 mm; pedicel erect to ascending. Seeds globose to obconic, lacking obvious depression, 0.8-1.8 mm, usually granular.