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Olsynium douglasii
Also called Grass widows, Douglas' Blue Eyed Grass, Douglas' Grass Widow, Douglas' Purple Eyed Grass, Satinflower, Douglas' Olsynium, Douglas's Blue Eyed Grass
Douglas' grasswidow is a small bulb-forming perennial with grass-like leaves and purple flowers in early spring, native to western North America. It is grown as a low-maintenance rock garden or meadow plant that needs full sun and well-drained soil.
Olsynium douglasii is a species of flowering plant in the iris family (Iridaceae). Common names include Douglas' olsynium, Douglas' grasswidow, grass-widow, blue-eyed grass, purple-eyed-grass, and satin flower, It is the only species in the genus Olsynium in North America, the remaining 11 species being from South America. It was formerly treated in the related genus Sisyrinchium. Despite the common names, it is not a true grass (Poaceae).
It is a bulb forming herbaceous perennial, growing 10–40 cm (3.9–15.7 in) tall. The leaves are slender, linear, 10–30 cm (3+7⁄8–11+3⁄4 in) long and 1.5–3 mm broad, usually with pale longitudinal stripes. The showy flowers appear in early spring and are bell-shaped to star-shaped, 15–25 mm long, with six purple tepals (sometimes pale or white). The anthers are dark yellow to orange and the filaments bearing them are fused only on the lower part.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Olsynium douglasii by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
