Flower Photography - Blue-Eyed Grass

This delightful little flower is blue-eyed grass (Sisyrinchium spp). I grew up calling this flower blue grass and assumed that Kentucky was called the Bluegrass State in its honor. I envisioned a landscape covered with these tiny blue flowers. I learned today that it isn't true. Kentucky is called the Bluegrass State, but it has nothing to do with the blue-eyed grass. Kentucky Bluegrass (Poa pratensis) is an entirely different plant and does not have blue flowers. It gets its name from the blue hue of the mature grass and was probably named by the first settlers who arrived when the prairies and pastures were filled with mature grass about to go to seed, as this is when it casts a blue hue.

​I'll be honest. I'm a little disappointed to learn that the landscape in Kentucky isn't blanketed with bright blue flowers, but that doesn't make them any less beautiful. Blue-eyed grass really isn't a grass at all and is related to the iris species. It can be found growing wild across much of North American, including Maine.