Blue-eyed Forked

2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38

Blue-eyed forked (Latin Sisyrinchium dichotomum) - a herbaceous perennial plant of the genus Goluboglazka (lat. Sisyrinchium), ranked by botanists in the Iris family (lat. Iridaceae). This rare flowering plant of the genus Sisyrinchium is listed as endangered in the United States of America. Low branching stems, grass-like narrow leaves and single flowers with white petals can disappear from the face of the Earth if a person does not take measures to protect them.

What's in your name

As a basis for the Latin name of the genus, botanists took the appearance of corms and branchy rhizomes of plants, reminiscent of an epic cloak of goat hair, which was called "sisyra". Karl Linnaeus, relying on this word and the appearance of the underground part of plants, gave the genus the Latin name "Sisyrinchium".

There is an older version of the Latin name of the genus "Sisyrinchium", which says that the name of the genus is made up of two Greek words: "pig" plus "muzzle", with a hint of the addiction of pigs to dig in the ground with their blunt-nosed snout, extracting corms of plants of this genus for food.

Since the blue-blue flowers of the plant affect human vision much more effectively than the roots hiding underground, the more popular name of the genus has become "Blue-eyed", which in English-language names takes the following form - "Blue-eyed-grass"). Although there are species in the genus, the flowers of which have changed blue, painting their petals in different tones. Including, Blue-eyed forked petals are white. And from a morphological point of view, plants of the genus do not belong to herbs (do not confuse "herbs" and "herbaceous plant").

The dichotomous branching of the stem became the basis of the species epithet "dichotomum", the principle of which is that the main stem at a certain stage stops its growth, dividing into two independent stems, forming a figure called a "fork". Hence the adjective “forked”. The word "dichotomy" is made up of two Greek words: "in two" and "division."

Description

Fork-eyed blue-eyed is a perennial herb from yellowish-green to light green at the beginning of life, turning into a dark olive when dry, without a bluish bloom. The rhizome is not always pronounced, sometimes the underground part is represented by fleshy thickened roots.

The branched stems have 2 to 5 nodes, two wings, a bare surface, and grow up to 40 centimeters in height.

Long narrow xiphoid leaves form a basal rosette. The leaf plate is bare. There can be both basal (basal) and regular stem leaves.

Flowering occurs in the summer. Each flower is protected by intergrown sepals, sometimes with a purple tint. The flowers are located on the tops of the stems. The flower petals are white, light blue, in the amount of six pieces, up to 7.5 millimeters long, with a yellow bell-shaped base. The edges of the petals are rounded. The median vein of the flower ends with an awn (sharp short tip). From the yellow core of the flower protrude yellow, symmetrically arranged stamens and an ovary similar to the color of foliage.

The fruit of the plant are light brown globular capsules with one to two globular seeds per capsule.

Low fertility Blue-eyed forked, numerous rival plants (Kudzu - Pueraria lobular or lobed (Pueraria lobata); Japanese honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica) and others), human production activities on growing lands put this species under threat of extinction from the face of the planet.