Blue-eyed grass

One of the signature flowers of early June is a diminutive jewel known in the trade—mis-known, it turns out—as Blue-eyed Grass. To look at the small, narrow-leaved plants, it's easy to see how it got its name. When it's not in bloom, it certainly masquerades as a grass, but once it puts forth that delicious blue flower, with its golden center, well, no question about its ungrassfulness. Actually, the members of the genus Sisyrinchium—according to the Connecticut Botanical Society, there are five Sisyrinchium species in our area—are kin to the Irises, and that resemblance surfaces in the leaves. I'm not sure which species this one belongs to, but based on the flower shape, with those distinctive spurs, and its status as being very common, it's most likely the Narrow-leaf Blue-eyed Grass, which, again according to the CBS, is a misnomer since S. angustifolium actually has the broadest leaves of any of our local species. A newer and more accurate name is Stout Blue-eyed Grass. By any name, it's a gem worth seeking out in fields and forest edges.