Kingdom Plantae Family Iridaceae Tribe Sisyrinchieae Rank Species | Order Asparagales Subfamily Iridoideae Genus Olsynium | |
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Similar Olsynium, Olsynium junceum, Nassauvia serpens, Poa flabellata, Oxalis enneaphylla | ||
Olsynium filifolium (pale maiden), or Bermudiana filifolia, is the only species of the iris family native to the Falkland Islands. It is much better known by its former name Sisyrinchium filifolium. Although it is no longer as common as it once was, it is widely distributed on the islands, and favours temperate dwarf shrub heath. It (or a closely related species) is also found in Patagonia.
Description
Height is 10–30 centimetres (4–12 in) tall. Leaves are linear, 4–20 centimetres (1.6–7.9 in) long and 1–3 millimetres (0.04–0.12 in) broad.
Flowers are sweet smelling, and bell-shaped with six white tepals with pale purplish-red markings. They bloom in spring, particularly in November.
References
Olsynium filifolium Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA