Sisyrinchium elmeri
Encyclopedia
Sisyrinchium elmeri is a species of flowering plant in the iris family
known by the common name Elmer's yellow-eyed grass. It is endemic to California
, where it is known from many of the mountain ranges from the Klamath Mountains
through the Sierra Nevada to the San Bernardino Mountains
. It grows in moist habitat types such as meadow
s and bog
s.
perennial herb takes a clumpy form, its narrow stems growing up to about 20 to 30 centimeters tall. It is medium green and nonwaxy, and it dries to a dark green or brownish color, but does not turn black. The flat, narrow leaves are grasslike. The flower has six tepal
s measuring roughly a centimeter long. They are yellow to yellow-orange with dark brown veining. The fruit is a dark brown capsule.
Iridaceae
The Iris family or Iridaceae is a family of perennial, herbaceous and bulbous plants included in the monocot order Asparagales, taking its name from the genus Iris. Almost worldwide in distribution and one of the most important families in horticulture, it includes more than 2000 species...
known by the common name Elmer's yellow-eyed grass. It is endemic to California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, where it is known from many of the mountain ranges from the Klamath Mountains
Klamath Mountains
The Klamath Mountains, which include the Siskiyou, Marble, Scott, Trinity, Trinity Alps, Salmon, and northern Yolla-Bolly Mountains, are a rugged lightly populated mountain range in northwest California and southwest Oregon in the United States...
through the Sierra Nevada to the San Bernardino Mountains
San Bernardino Mountains
The San Bernardino Mountains are a short transverse mountain range north and east of San Bernardino in Southern California in the United States. The mountains run for approximately 60 miles east-west on the southern edge of the Mojave Desert in southwestern San Bernardino County, north of the...
. It grows in moist habitat types such as meadow
Meadow
A meadow is a field vegetated primarily by grass and other non-woody plants . The term is from Old English mædwe. In agriculture a meadow is grassland which is not grazed by domestic livestock but rather allowed to grow unchecked in order to make hay...
s and bog
Bog
A bog, quagmire or mire is a wetland that accumulates acidic peat, a deposit of dead plant material—often mosses or, in Arctic climates, lichens....
s.
Description
Sisyrinchium elmeri is rhizomatousRhizome
In botany and dendrology, a rhizome is a characteristically horizontal stem of a plant that is usually found underground, often sending out roots and shoots from its nodes...
perennial herb takes a clumpy form, its narrow stems growing up to about 20 to 30 centimeters tall. It is medium green and nonwaxy, and it dries to a dark green or brownish color, but does not turn black. The flat, narrow leaves are grasslike. The flower has six tepal
Tepal
Tepals are elements of the perianth, or outer part of a flower, which include the petals or sepals. The term tepal is more often applied specifically when all segments of the perianth are of similar shape and color, or undifferentiated, which is called perigone...
s measuring roughly a centimeter long. They are yellow to yellow-orange with dark brown veining. The fruit is a dark brown capsule.