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Sisyrinchium palmifolium (Palm-leaf Yellow-Eyed Grass) - A grass-like evergreen perennial with blades of narrow 1/4-inch-wide iris-like blue-green leaves making a dense 2 feet tall clump. In later spring into summer appear the open branched winged inflorescences rising above the foliage to 30 inches tall with many 1/2 inch wide bright star-like yellow flowers. The flowers open fully in the late afternoon and are a showy display through the summer months and often into late fall.
Plant in full to part sun in a well-drained soil and irrigate occasionally to regularly. Hardy to 0 °F and useful in USDA zones 7 and above. A great long flowering and cheery plant in the mixed meadow or in the perennial border. Sisyrinchium palmifolium is a variable species and one of the largest plants in the genus. It grows throughout much of South America, from northern Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay and has long been in cultivation after first being described by Linnaeus in 1767 to be included in his Mantissa Plantarum Altera in 1771. The name for the genus comes from Ancient Greek word 'Sisyrinchíon' that was used by Pliny the_Elder and Theophrastus for the Barbary nut iris (Iris or Moraea sisyrinchium). It refers to word 'sisýra' meaning a shaggy goat's-hair coat for the corm tunics resemblance though the reason for applying this name to a genus of the New World Iridaceae is apparently arbitrary. The specific epithet means "palm-like leaves".
We first received this plant from the meadowmaster and grassman, John Greenlee, as Sisyrinchium macrocephalum, which is now considered to be one of the many synonyms for Sisyrinchium palmifolium ssp. palmifolium. Other synonyms include Bermudiana palmifolia, Eleutherine palmifolia, Glumosia palmifolia, Marica palmifolia, Moraea palmifolia and Paneguia palmifolia. Also confusing in the botanical records is that the name has also been used for plants later identified or reclassified as Eleutherine bulbosa (S. palmifolium Cav.) and Tigridia Pavonia (S. palmifolium Sessé & Moc.). Another common name for it is Bird-Of-Paradise Sisyrinchium.
The information about Sisyrinchium palmifolium that is displayed on this web page is based on research conducted in our nursery's horticultural library and from reliable online resources. We will also include observations made about this plant as it grows in our nursery gardens and other gardens that we have visited, as well how the crops have performed in containers in our nursery field. We also incorporate comments that we receive from others and welcome hearing from anyone with additional information, particularly if they share cultural information that aids others growing this plant.
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