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Drawing copyright Mark Müller
Iridaceae Family - "Blue-eyed Grass"
Sisyrinchium is from the Latin name once used for another plant and reassigned to this species. Angustifolium comes from the Latin for "narrow leaf".
Found throughout the Tallgrass Prairie regions on the sandy soils of open areas. Lavendar to violet blossoms from May to June.
Native Americans made a root tea to treat diarrhea in children, and a tea brewed from the entire plant was used for worms and stomachaches. Several different species of this genus were used as a laxatives. The Menomini in particular, used S. campestre in their dwellings and on their person to ward off snakes. They also mixed the dried plant with oats claiming it made their horses fat and vicious. The horses' bite was supposedly poisonous to all but the owner.
